Tolling on Gauteng’s freeways would add R60-million a year in costs to Imperial Logistics’ operating bill, excluding internal administration fees, said chief integration officer Cobus Rossouw on Thursday.

This was down from R100-million, prior to the South African National Roads Agency Limited newest round of discounts, he added.

“This is less than we expected,” said Rossouw.

He noted that Gautengers normally overestimate their percentage of freeway travel, with the average less than 50% per journey.

Questioned whether Imperial Logistics would pass the cost of Gauteng’s new toll roads on to its customers, which include Woolworths, for example, Rossouw said there were typically two types of freight logistics in South Africa, namely trucks moving through the province, and those distributing goods in the geographical area.

Through-traffic would typically just pass on the costs, he believed, while the added efficiencies caused by a smoother traffic pattern should theoretically see only limited costs passed on to distribution customers.

However, “in many cases”, he noted, distributors would probably demand that the toll fees, as a tax, should be paid by customers, with their contracts making provision for this to happen.

“There is no simple answer,” stated Rossouw.

SUPPORT USER PAYS, BUT LAW ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMATIC

Rossouw said Imperial Logistics supported the user-pays principle, as it required adequate road capacity to conduct its business – especially as it understood from government that there existed few other funding options in creating new roads.

However, the answer also did not rest in recovering the money spent on Gauteng’s new freeways from the fuel levy – a popular suggestion - as opposed to etolling, as it did not serve to shape behaviour, said Rossouw. Imperial Logistics approved of payment principles that shaped behaviour, such as being incentivised to make deliveries at night, rather than during the day.

Rossouw added that growing the fuel levy was not the silver bullet many believed it to be, as it would probably also see the freight logistics industry passing on costs to the customers, as their contracts accommodated changes in the fuel price.

If the user-pays principle was not applied, he argued, it was unlikely commuters would be moved to share their vehicles to save costs, or to shift to public transport. It was also a question; however, of whether the pressure would then exist for government to provide improved public transport systems.

However, despite Imperial Logistics’ support for the user-pays principle, the company was left with a number of questions on the Gauteng tolling programme, such as the level of pricing, and the role the toll collector now had as a law enforcement agency, said Rossouw.

He questioned whether the user was not also going to pay for the extensive law enforcement abilities built into the system, and whether the current structure of e-toll collection did not “to some extent, privatise law enforcement”.

“Should government do this,” he asked, adding that it may be adding unnecessarily to e-toll fees.