Technologically challenged

Thursday, 04 February 2010 10:00

The skills gap has become a yawning chasm – will transport and logistics be swallowed by the abyss?

Already beset with a serious skills shortage in many areas, the South African transport and logistics industry faced an even more daunting challenge with the introduction of the so-called “technology truck” at the turn of the millennium.

The introduction of this new generation of highly sophisticated trucks added pressure on an industry already struggling to recruit and retain adequately experienced and trained drivers and technicians while complying with legislative requirements, particularly in the area of skills development.

A new breed of drivers was required, while support staff such as mechanical technicians would also have to be upskilled to keep the wheels rolling. Almost a decade later, a severe skills shortage persists and the situation remains precarious.

Despite initiatives from both the industry and the government to increase education and training throughputs, the situation is not expected to change in the immediate future, says Gavin Kelly, Technical and Operations manager at the Road Freight Association (RFA).

“All operators are directly affected by drivers, artisans and mechanics being in short supply,” he says. “Manufacturers have also expressed concern at the difficulties they are experiencing in recruiting candidates to maintain their truck fleets.”

Kelly believes the industry needs multi-skilled drivers who possess a wide range of physical and mental qualities, enabling them to drive the different vehicles while also performing other varied tasks required of modern drivers. Reliable truck-driving skills still constitute the most obvious and basic skills requirement. The driver must possess an array of other skills and knowledge, including a sound knowledge of emergency procedures, identifying and handling hazardous road conditions, first aid skills, knowledge of different methods of securing and covering loads, an understanding of legislation, knowledge of defensive driving techniques, the ability to use satellite tracking equipment and on-board computers, and be able to read maps. This must be rounded off with good decision-making skills and the ability to plan, organise and establish priorities.

Kelly is concerned that young people are not attracted to an industry not generally viewed as being ‘glamorous’. He says the average age of South African truck drivers is in the 40s. While the road freight industry loses over 3 000 drivers each year, it requires 15 000 new drivers annually. Mark Rylance, executive of development and training strategies at Barloworld Logistics Africa, confirms the lack of new recruits and says plans have to be put in place by companies to make a driver’s career more attractive. If they fail, the driver shortages will increase. He says operators are experiencing these problems because it is not an exciting career for many people, with issues such as long absences from home and the high prevalence of HIV/Aids playing a negative role, too.

Rylance adds that the most basic skills specification levels for drivers would be a valid driver’s licence and a professional driving permit (PRDP). Many companies, however, would have additional requirements, including a minimum of five years’ driving experience, a minimum Grade 10 qualification, criminal checks, medical checks, and practical driver’s tests among other things.

Dave Behrens of Crossroads Distribution, who is also a director on the board of the RFA, says drivers are less in short supply at present due to the negative economic conditions. He believes there is a more pressing shortage currently of operational managers which is an “unglamorous job” demanding hard work.

There is, however, a shortage of female drivers to allow compliance with employment equity requirements. Drivers, says Behrens, can now also benefit from the new skills training and qualification offered in terms of the new legislation by the industry in conjunction with the Transport Education and Training Authority (Teta).

Tony d’Almeida, a director of UTi South Africa, who also represents the RFA as a board member at the Teta, says more training emphasis can be placed on making drivers familiar with legislation relating to the transportation of hazardous goods, the imminent demerit points system, and interpersonal relationships training for drivers to improve their levels of service excellence.

But, he says, with the new skills training legislation, vocational academic training and qualifications are now possible. “We at the RFA look at what is needed and feed that through to the Teta. The RFA plays a strategic role in training development relating to unit standards and skills programmes appropriate for the industry in partnership with employers and the unions.”

D’Almeida adds there is a tendency to assume automatically that the most critical shortages in the industry relate to drivers. However, he says there are critical skills shortages in the areas of logistics and supply chain management, financial managers, human resources practitioners, information technology specialists and more.

There is a critical demand for support staff in the industry such as mechanics and technicians to keep vehicles on the roads, he says. There is a shortage of specialised rivers and drivers required to be upskilled to deal with the various technological advances.

Meanwhile, the 5th annual State of Logistics Survey, conducted jointly by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Imperial Logistics (a division of Imperial Holdings), says the most important cost drivers for the industry are fuel, collaboration and skills development. Demand-side analysis indicates that employment figures remain mainly flat or are declining slightly for the transport, storage and communications sector. Supply-side analysis suggests that all indicators, in relation to the economy, are declining. Future solutions for South Africa’s freight transport skills problems will have to focus on technical skills development involving all sectors of the industry, says the survey.

Programmes to address labour and training issues have been less than successful, the survey found. “Supply-side challenges manifest themselves to a large extent in the mismatch of skills, in so far as the characteristics of the available pool of potential employees do not satisfy labour demand regarding specific qualifications and skills.

“This is the result of, among others, the debatable quality of training institutions and teaching capital; incorrect and/or inappropriate fields of study offered by training institutions; the lack and/or incompleteness of overarching management information on the labour market (this is fragmented and incomplete); the inability of learners to make the transition from school to further education and training facilities, universities and technikons; as well as insufficient communication and collaboration between enterprises and training institutions.”

In order to address the skills situation in the industry, the South African Qualifications Authority’s proposed a new national certificate in Transport Operations (Level 5) in 2008, which was said to be comparable “to examples in most developed countries”.

The approach adopted by the Standards Generating Body, however, recognises the need for transformation in emerging economies, and the need to ‘step’ development to provide access. Level 5 provides for learning and career pathways for those involved in transport operations. It is set to encourage the development of skills in line with internationally comparable standards. The RFA was in the process of establishing academies around the country where individuals are trained to operate different vehicles and according to the Professional Driver Qualification, which will allow for career development.

MAN Truck & Bus SA recently announced it had upgraded its existing R8-million Training Academy with a further R1m. The upgraded facility offers a comprehensive range of technical training courses, which are of huge benefit to the transport industry in general.

Scania South Africa runs the Scania Academy that has trained more than 570 technicians at a cost of R1.4m as well as more than 300 employees in commercial training.

And following the introduction of the so-called “technology truck” to the South African road transport market, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles launched the Mercedes-Benz Training Academy in October 2001.

Guided by its vision to “provide development and personal growth opportunities through needs-driven products and services in order to enhance the performance of individuals and their organisations”, the academy has since seen thousands of heavy-duty truck drivers graduate from its many courses, the company says.

The Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (Africa) was created within the Department of Transport & Supply Chain Management at the University of Johannesburg in order to help address the industry’s need for relevant and up-to-date research.

It is also recognised as a first-class education, training and research service provider in the fields of Transport Economics, Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management.

Other initiatives such as the Department of Transport’s National Driver of the Year competition and the Arrive Alive Campaign also focus on improving driver skills.

Stef Terblanche

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