Transport News
Realterm Acquires Secured Parking and Maintenance Facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Realterm announces the acquisition of a fully leased, 44.98-acre secured parking and maintenance facility located at 1245 Easton Road, Bethlehem, Pa. The property also offers a freight yard with direct rail service.
Spireon Helps Summitt Trucking Address Labor and Trailer Shortage While Saving $644,000 Per Year
Technology-focused truckload and logistics company taps the power of Spireon’s trailer management and managed services to optimize asset visibility, streamline operations, and transform data into actionable business insights
Trucker Tools To Implement Full Stack Integration with Turvo
Complements Turvo TMS collaboration platform; Leverages all Trucker Tools digital brokerage offerings, including freight matching, capacity management, automated booking and real-time visibility via Trucker Tools mobile driver app.
Private sector will play key role in AfCFTA industrial development, economic diversification
The private sector in Africa will play a critical role in speeding up industrial development and economic diversification, particularly in the context of the ongoing pandemic and other development challenges, as part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), says logistics company Imperial Business Intelligence executive Mark Prommel and Imperial marketing and communications VP Melissa Arjoonan. The private sector accounts for about 80% of total production, 67% of investment, 75% of credit and employs 90% of the working age population in Africa.
Sanral sets aside R3bn to benefit local SMMEs during N2 Wild Coast road construction
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has set aside more than R3-billion to benefit local small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs), in Mpondoland, in the Eastern Cape, as part of the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Road. About 8 000 direct jobs and up to 20 000 indirect jobs will also be created, says Sanral N2 Wild Coast Road project manager Mbulelo Sonqishe.
Road tech can improve road longevity, safety
Engineering consultancy WSP has incorporated technologies that compensate for the potential longer time span between maintenance interventions for the rehabilitation of a 27 km section of road in Gauteng, says WSP director Marshall Muthen. The project, set to begin in January, involves a section of road starting at the D483/P6-1 intersection, close to Bapsfontein, in Ekurhuleni, and ending at the D483/D713 intersection in Cullinan, in Tshwane.
Global air cargo demand up 3.7%, capacity down 7.6% for Nov
The latest global air cargo market data released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) shows slow growth in November, as supply chain disruptions and capacity constraints impacted on demand, despite economic conditions remaining favourable for the sector. The baseline comparison against which the data is compared is the data of November 2019 – as this was the last normal demand pattern.
DHL Global Forwarding expands to Zimbabwe
Global logistics brand DHL Global Forwarding has launched in Zimbabwe to extend its presence across Africa. The international air, ocean and road freight services provider will give local and regional businesses within the greater Southern African Development Community (SADC) region instant access to global markets, the company said in a statement.
Nedbank provides Imperial with R1bn sustainability-linked credit facility
Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) has concluded a R1-billion sustainability-linked revolving credit facility for international logistics company Imperial Logistics, which had approached Nedbank CIB to consider innovative funding alternatives that align with its focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG). “Through active engagement with Imperial on its ESG strategy and debt financing requirements, we developed a R1-billion sustainability-linked debt instrument under which Imperial aims to deliver on mutually pre-agreed sustainability performance targets over the debt term,” says Nedbank CIB Investment Banking managing executive Brad Maxwell.
Manhattan Associates extends TMS Visibility with FourKites to Cover Ocean and Rail Tracking
By combining over-the-road visibility with ocean and rail shipments, customers receive intermodal visibility in one single source of truth to streamline end-to-end shipments
AFS Logistics acquires DTA Services, creating largest freight audit and payment company in Canada
3PL dramatically improves Canadian presence with addition of 102-year-old freight audit and payment company
Tobias Bartz becomes the new CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of the Rhenus Group
Tobias Bartz will take over the position of CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of the Rhenus Group on 1 April 2022. He will succeed Klemens Rethmann, who will then concentrate on his tasks on the Executive Board of RETHMANN SE.
Law enforcement could be intensified against foreign truck drivers without PDPs – Mbalula
The government is considering implementing laws prohibiting foreign nationals from driving trucks registered in the country without the relevant documents. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said the new law would see undocumented truck divers facing the wrath of the law. This after local truck drivers staged protests on the country’s national roads. Truck drivers complained about foreign nationals driving trucks without South African Professional Driving Permits (PDPs).
Opinion: A system to drive road safety
In this opinion article, South African national Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) Engineering for Road Safety lead and project manager for Sanral’s Eastern region, covering KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, Jason Lowe writes about the agency’s Safe System model.
Sanral urges motorists to be patient in areas where roadworks will continue over December
Most of the road construction industry will shut down operations on December 15 and resume on January 10, although some projects will continue during the holiday period. As the holidays are fast approaching, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) urges motorists to rest, ensure their vehicles are roadworthy, obey speed limits, look out for pedestrians and be patient in areas where roadworks are continuing.
CSIR, DSI and NRF establish smart mobility research chair
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) have jointly established a research chair in smart mobility, the first of its kind in South Africa. Professor Marianne Vanderschuren, an expert in transport planning and engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT), has been selected to lead the initiative.
Zikalala condemns the proliferation of counterfeit goods
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala says the proliferation of counterfeit goods is tantamount to economic sabotage as it takes market share away from legitimate businesses and has negative implications for economic growth. The Premier was overseeing a law enforcement operation at Bayhead road, leading to the Durban harbour, on January 13. The operation was aimed at ensuring compliance in the freight and logistics industry.
Court declares AARTO Amendment Act unconstitutional
The High Court has declared the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Act, on which the planned demerit system for traffic offences is based, unconstitutional and invalid. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) challenged the constitutional validity of AARTO and the AARTO Amendment Act, and asked the court in October last year to declare both the main Act and the amendment Act unconstitutional.
War in Ukraine unlikely to cause long-term disruption to air travel recovery, says Iata
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which is the global representative body of the airline industry, does not believe that the current Russia-Ukraine War was likely to affect long-term growth in the commercial aviation sector. “In general, air transport is resilient against shocks,” the association observed. Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia had been the world’s 11th largest air passenger market (the country had had a large domestic market). Ukraine had ranked 48th.
Cyber, electricity, riot insurance risks becoming increasingly complicated to manage
South Africa’s infrastructure is vulnerable to cyberattacks, as highlighted during 2021, while the risk of the electricity grid’s failure accelerated in 2021. There are also concerns that a repeat of the riots experienced in July last year could be on the horizon in 2022, says insurance company Old Mutual Insure MD Garth Napier.