South Africa’s heavy haulage sector operates largely in the background, and yet many of the country’s leading industries wouldn’t function without it. From delivering mining equipment and agricultural machinery to moving infrastructure components and food supplies, heavy-haulage operators are vital enablers of our economy.
Transport Month presents an opportunity to bring this contribution into focus. With more than 85% of South Africa’s land-freight tonnage transported by road, keeping the sector functioning safely and efficiently is critical not only to transport operators, but also to the supply chains that have come to depend on them.
The reality is that transport operators are navigating an increasingly complex risk environment. This is not down to one particular issue, but a combination of various evolving risk factors that add to the everyday operational pressures of running a transport business.
The risk of cargo theft and hijacking has become a significant concern in South Africa. Criminals are also changing the way they operate, with syndicates using increasingly sophisticated tactics such as GPS jamming, fake police stops and insider involvement.
Then you have the ongoing deterioration of our roads, which not only increases the possibility of an accident, but can cause serious damage to vehicles and, potentially, the cargo itself. Escalating weather patterns, including intense rainfall and severe flooding, introduce yet another layer of uncertainty, threatening the accessibility and safety of planned routes, often resulting in unavoidable delays and additional costs.
Heavy haulage is not a standard risk
This complexity is precisely why heavy haulage should not be treated as a standard commercial vehicle risk. Operators are dealing with specialised vehicles and, in many instances, very high-value machinery or equipment. There may also be specific exposures associated with the route, dimensions of the load, and loading and unloading processes. A standard policy may protect the vehicle without adequately responding to all the risks surrounding the operation.
Specialist insurance therefore starts with understanding what the operator actually does, what they transport, their planned routes, and what could realistically go wrong. Claims expertise is also essential. If an abnormal load is involved in an accident, recovery can be complicated, requiring people and service providers who understand that environment.
The point is not to have more insurance, but to have insurance that is appropriate for the realities of the business. That said, insurance, should never be the first or only line of defence. Operators ideally want to prevent incidents from happening in the first place, or at least reduce their impact.
Technology provides an opportunity to do this. Telematics and fleet-monitoring systems can provide useful information about driver behaviour, vehicle movements and routes, but the real value comes from using that information to make better decisions. If data shows patterns of harsh braking, speeding or repeated problems along particular routes, management should be asking why and taking action.
The same applies to preventative maintenance. In a heavy-haulage environment, the consequences of mechanical failure can be substantial.
Finally, we cannot overlook the driver. Drivers work under demanding conditions and often spend long hours on the road. Fatigue and wellness should therefore be treated as genuine business risks, not simply HR issues. Training, sensible scheduling, adequate rest and ongoing engagement with drivers should form part of the broader safety culture.
Building resilience into the business
These risks need to be reviewed regularly because routes, contracts, cargo and crime patterns change. What worked two or three years ago may not be sufficient today.
Operators also need to plan for when things do go wrong. Who is contacted after a serious accident or hijacking? What happens if an important vehicle is off the road for an extended period? How will customers continue to be serviced?
Importantly, resilience is not something you buy through an insurance policy. It is something you build into the business. The right insurance is an important part of that, because it helps the business recover when something does go wrong. But when that protection is supported by good risk management, trained and supported drivers, sound maintenance, technology and proper continuity planning, the business is in a much stronger position.
And for heavy-haulage operators, that resilience matters beyond their own business because when they keep moving, many other parts of our economy keep moving too.
By Natalie Mpele, Head of Sales at Santam Heavy Haulage