This is the sixth of a series of blog postings from Clare Bottle, who will be telling us about her travels in Zambia - supported by transport charity Transaid - to see what the transport industry is like out there:
I think it would be fair to describe today as hectic. Gary collected me from the hotel before 8am and six meetings later we were both still hard at work after 8pm. We must be (April) Fools.
This morning we started at the internet café and then headed over to the CILT Office for a meeting with Elias Zulu. Mr Zulu has been chairing a sub-Committee in preparation for my work and their recommendations include developing CILT’s capacity to undertake research projects. We agreed that it would be useful to list some of the topical issues in transport and logistics worthy of detailed study, such as congestion, road maintenance and rail privatisation.
Our second meeting was with a colourful character who goes by the nickname Flash, derived from the branding on his fleet of 150 minibuses. Much of the bus industry is run by independent owner drivers, but Flash operates a different business model. He provides vehicles and training for the drivers and he dictates which routes they serve. The drivers must ‘cash-in’ a fixed fee to Flash at the end of the day and they get to keep the remainder of the fares. Flash prides himself on reliable services and the strong bodywork of his vehicles which protects passengers. In his youth, Flash worked in London and he draws parallels with London Buses (for example, the front seat is always reserved for disabled passengers) although he is quick to point out that the economy of London isn’t transferable to Lusaka and there are no subsidies for bus services here.
Next it was the Truckers Association of Zambia (TAZ). They have dialogue with organisations such as the Zambia Business Forum and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but not CILT, which they perceive as a quasi-governmental organisation with limited influence. We talked about skills shortages and in particular the difficulty of recruiting good workshop managers and mechanics for vehicle maintenance.
At 15:00 we visited the Industrial Training Centre where their Acting Director, Levy, acknowledged that ITC should be a corporate member of CILT, but felt the advantages of membership had not been spelt out clearly enough. ITC is hoping to be accredited by CILT International to provide their courses, building training capacity in Zambia. They would welcome local support from CILT Zambia during the process of accreditation.
Our penultimate meeting was with Charles, who runs two or three pan-regional haulage companies mainly moving industrial goods such as copper. Satellite tracking is compulsory for copper shipments and Charles was sceptical about this when it was introduced, but has grown to appreciate the management information it provides. Their entire fleet consists of Mercedes tractor units, which he described as “made for Africa” with the exception of the Actros, which was “ahead of its time”. Charles has heard that there’s a shortage of up to 3,000 trucks and drivers within the Southern Africa Development Community region and is keen to consider initiatives to address it.
Finally we talked to Chris at National Milling. They don’t operate their own fleet, but outside the Copperbelt mining operations, National Milling probably lets more transport contracts than anyone else. In South Africa it’s mandatory for logistics professionals to hold CILT qualifications and so Chris studied them when he worked there and he’s an advocate of formal training to supplement on the job experience. He lamented local customs such as the claim that removing the brake linings from the drive axle prevents jack-knifing. I wonder whether VOSA would buy that one?
If you’d like to know more and would consider sponsoring me, please visit my charity giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/clarebottle.
Clare Bottle is a freelance logistics specialist, with experience and market knowledge in storage, packaging and transport; she is also a Board Director and Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK.