Metro to test trucks
With the recent growing calls for trucks to have dedicated lanes and travel times on the country's national roads, the City of Ekurhuleni has launched a campaign to test all trucks with a Gross Vehicle Mass of 3500 kilogrammes and more.
The free vehicle assessment campaign was opened on Wednesday this week, and will run until October 31 at the Nigel, Boksburg and Kempton Park Testing Centres.
The free test is part of Public Transport Month activities and will also include taxis and buses in a bid to curb fatal road accidents as a result of unroadworthy vehicles.
Furthermore, Ekurhuleni is home to major national roads such as the N3, N12, and R24. One of South Africa’s busiest interchanges, Gillooly’s Interchange, is also within Ekurhuleni’s boundaries.
The Metro’s spokesperson, Sam Modiba said, “Ensuring we have roadworthy vehicles on our roads is fundamental for us as a city because we have a high volume of heavy vehicles driving in and out of our city due to the large industries in our municipal area. We also encourage public operators to continue testing their vehicles on a regular basis even beyond the campaign.”
Modiba encouraged all public transport operators to book appointments and visit the city’s designated testing stations in order to seize the opportunity to be informed about the roadworthy status of their vehicles so that corrective measures can be taken to prevent deadly accidents.
“For the purpose of efficiency and due consideration of the time it takes to assess these vehicles, all the vehicles to be tested must be pre-booked,” said Modiba.
