Skills shortages afflict every area of the transport sector

Problems associated with skills shortages and skills transfer constitute a vicious cycle that has be stopped in its tracks if the transport sector is ever to extricate itself from a nasty rut.

This emerged from a paper presented by Peter Kilbourn, senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) who specialises in Supply Chain Management, at a meeting of the Transport Special Interest Group (SIG) in September. The statistics he showed offered clarity on the much-discussed skills shortage in South Africa in general and in the transport sector in particular.

Frighteningly, there is just about no area in the supply chain that does not suffer from significant to critical skills shortage.

Kilbourn’s study was supported by a presentation from Colette Wessels, training and development manager at Imperial Logistics (one of the Transport SIG’s sponsors). She explained what various organisations in the sector were doing to address these shortages and the areas that required urgent attention.

In a country where the distances that need to be covered to ensure that goods (and, in many instances, services) reach the urban and rural destinations where they are required, it is vital that the sector has the skills to ensure smooth operation.

However, Kilbourn pointed out, from the very basic skills – numeracy and literacy – through the technical skills required to keep fleets operating efficiently to the administrative skills required to manage small, medium and large logistics organisations, the gaping holes are present at all levels.

With a less than satisfactory rail transport system presently available (the infrastructure and the rolling stock are available, but the operation itself is woefully under-skilled and costs have become prohibitive), road transport is relied upon more heavily than ever to ensure the distribution of product. This presents its own problems as far as road development and maintenance is concerned, but the fact remains that the network is available for logistic operations, but it urgently requires the trained personnel to ensure it works.

The hidden costs of inefficient transport infrastructure are huge and, in many cases, outweigh the normal overheads by crippling amounts. One only has to listen to the daily traffic reports to get an idea of the downtime to which most fleet owners are subjected on a regular basis. Add to this the costs to other road users of the delays (caused by stationary or overturned vehicles or lost loads jamming up the traffic) not only in time but also in wasted fuel and the inability to deliver their goods on time, and the picture takes on an ever bleaker appearance.

The problem is not being ignored by any stretch of the imagination, but it has an enormity that makes it daunting.

Wessels spoke about the initiatives that companies such as hers and others had implemented in association with academic institutions such as UJ, and she attempted to show how such partnerships could make a difference in bringing some much-needed relief.

But for every skills transfer process in one area of the supply chain, the requirements in another widen and the job becomes a never-ending cycle.

Here, it is the responsibility of everyone involved in the transport sector to ensure the opportunities available are fully communicated to the public and to participate in addressing the imbalance between employment vacancies and the qualifications required to fill those posts.

Transport is not viewed as ‘sexy’ in terms of youth career counselling, and not too many ‘Shuttleworth experiences’ will occur within the sector.

However, if there is one area where sustainable employment at a very acceptable living standard will remain available into the very distant future, it is here; and long-term careers can be forged and the economy can be bolstered through a well-run transport industry.

It is time for the sector to refocus on what needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency and to ensure that transport, logistics and the supply chain are marketed properly.

John Doolan