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TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * East Africa Countries: Kenya
* Kenia - Delays, corruption impinge on trucking efficiency in East Africa
Nairobi,Kenya -Sabahi, by Rajab Ramah -September 15, 2014: -- Truck driver Mark Mulago, 43, had to spent an entire night at Mlolongo weighbridge on the outskirts of Nairobi on September 1st while officials cleared his truck to proceed... "Even though at this point the officers are only supposed to weigh the vehicles and their content to make sure that only truck loads with the right weight are allowed on roads, officers are inclined to bribery so they always stage delays to cause pileups of trucks," he said. "This pushes many of us to part with bribes so we can be cleared faster" ... Mulago, who transports cargo from the port of Mombasa to Rwanda and Uganda, said lack of standardised transiting and clearance procedures across all EAC member states were making the trucking business unpredictable...
* Kenya - Bloated bureaucracies
Nairobi,Kenya -Sabahi, by Rajab Ramah -September 15, 2014: -- Last month, the East Africa Policy Centre (EAPC), a think tank focusing on free market ideas within the region, released a report detailing the challenges facing the long distance trucking industry in the EAC. EAC countries move closer to integrate trade New berth at Mombasa port aims to boost regional trade Bribery stifles growth in East Africa, report says... According to the report, titled "Struggling with Formal and Informal Trade Barriers", high transport costs caused by corruption, bureaucratic delays, and poor border infrastructure are the biggest hindrances to trade in the region. The report does not consider road conditions as the primary cause of high transportation costs but blames inefficiencies at ports and corruption as the main issues. "Border fees and bribes remain a large part of cost of trade," the report said. "We found that other overhead and bribes account for almost 19% of the trucking companies' total operation cost. Drivers who were interviewed by the appellant claimed that many unexpected overcharges and bribes have to be paid at check points and weighbridges on the borders." The report further added that highly complex clearance procedures at ports cause unnecessary delays and severe logistical constraints. Despite recent efforts to simplify the process, truckers still must go through many steps before crossing borders. For example, truckers transporting freight from Mombasa to the Rwandan capital require 52 documents and signatures for a single trip, according to the report. Delays at the Mombasa port are one of the main culprits, accounting for an estimated 40% of the cost of transport along the busy Northern Corridor route through East Africa. Other ports in the region examined by the report do not fare much better. After receiving clearance at the ports, truckers have to go through a series of port border checkpoints, which extend trips. The average wait at borders between EAC countries is about 13 hours -- roughly 12 times longer than the wait at most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries -- which makes it difficult to predict the time between the placement of an order with a supplier and the arrival of the goods, the report said. "For those reasons, road transport in the EAC is significantly more expensive than ship and air transport to advanced economies such as the United States (of A.) and European Union," the report said. "For instance, to transport a 20-tonne container via road from Mombasa to Kigali costs $3,400-$6,500. However, to make a shipment by sea of the same tonnage from Mombasa to the United Kingdom often costs only $2,000-$4,000." EAPC executive director Mike Rotich said with more efficient ports, truckers could increase their yearly mileage by at least 20,000 kilometres, which would translate to more and cheaper consumer goods on the market. "We estimate that reducing needless delays [at ports] and in turn improving logistical performance by 50% at EAC borders would cut transport prices and increase [trade] about 15%, which will translate to a 5% growth in GDP," he told Sabahi, calling on EAC member states to remove excessive bureaucracies that have been blamed to be at the root of the poor performance...
* Kenyan authorities to combat corruption
Nairobi,Kenya -Sabahi, by Rajab Ramah -September 15, 2014: -- When reached for comment concerning Kenyan officers accused of bribery, Kenya National Highways Authority Director General Meshack Kidenda admitted receiving complaints. "We are aware of the cartels responsible for graft on our roadblocks and weighbridges. We understand the negative impact it has on trade and generally regional integration but we have not resigned to fate. We have mounted sting operations with other agencies and in a few months we will dismantle all the cartels responsible for those vices," Kidenda told Sabahi. Working with officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, he said they had arrested over 19 people accused of soliciting bribes at Mlolongo and Mariakani weighbridges since mid-August. "We will continue conducting ad hoc operations until all the stations are corruption free," he said, adding that they have also started installing modern weighbridges that will see the scales record weight of trucks while in motion. "This will minimise physical contact between officers and those manning the weigh-bridges, as information on overloaded trucks will be automatically relayed to court clerks stationed away from the centres who will prepare charges on those who violate the axle load rules. This will also help minimize delays," he said.
* Kenya - Protecting truckers from overcharges
Nairobi,Kenya -Sabahi, by Rajab Ramah -September 15, 2014: -- Phyllis Kandie, cabinet secretary for Kenya's Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, said the EAC council had approved two pieces of regulation -- the one-stop border post bill and the vehicle load control bill -- to protect truckers from overcharges and reduce delays at borders. The one-stop border post bill aims at making the movement of goods throughout the region more efficient by combining border control activities at a single location in order to reduce the number of stops truckers have to make. The vehicle load control bill attempts to harmonise the region's axle load limit to 56 tonnes. "Most countries are aligning the rules to their national laws so as implementation can be done easily," Kandie told Sabahi, adding that improved relations and co-operation among members states are also helping eliminate both tariff and non-tariff barriers that have been a hindrance to trade within the region...
Labels: trucking industry news worldwide
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