Transnet Port Terminals have announced that they will soon roll out a Truck Driver Induction program to equip drivers with knowledge of how they are expected to behave in and around the port.
This as a way to complement the truck booking system amongst other interventions by the port of Durban to ease the congestion on Bayhead road and the harbour area, while also modernising port operations.
Port of Durban General Manager, Moshe Motlohi, said that they will work with trucking companies to develop an intelligent source of knowledge to profile drivers.
“Together with the induction of truck drivers, we are going to develop an intelligent source of knowledge which will help us understand who are their drivers, their history, if they are non-South Africans are they here with a valid work permit, if they are working with them,” said Motlohi.
He said that at this stage there was no system to identify those people who have been serial offenders.
“A person, for example, can work for me today and for whatever misbehaviour we part ways. He goes and joins somebody else tomorrow and he continues with the same behaviour we don’t have that intelligence, we want to gather that intelligence so that we can professionalise and raise levels of comfort around ethics of people that we work with and treat them in a fair way,” he added.
Implementation of the truck driver induction program had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. TPT initially planned to bring together all the drivers in an auditorium and exchange views but they are now looking at doing the training virtually.
Unroadworthy Vehicles
Motlohi said the eThekwini Metro Police department had gracefully accepted the challenge of enforcing the law around the port of Durban.
“We are not going to allow vehicles that ought not to be on the road to be coming to the port. There should be no vehicles with oil leaks because that is bad for the environment, unroadworthy vehicles which could cause accidents and also just adherence in making sure that all the major intersections in the port are being kept clear all the time,” said Mothlohi.
Law enforcement officers will also check the validity of roadworthy certificates and permits and make sure there is no overloading of trucks.
