Simulating and stimulating safety

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) recently took delivery of two state-of-the-art mobile truck driving simulators and the company has now opened them up to improve the skills of South African drivers of trucks, buses and other public transport vehicles.

CCBSA will make the simulators available to the Department of Transport (DoT) for one day a week throughout the year.

“CCBSA has been using truck simulators as a way to improve the skills of all our drivers who help us move our product across the country. The use of the simulators has significantly improved the competency levels of our drivers and consequently reduced our road-related safety incidents,” says Flora Jika, CCBSA logistics director.

“Through improved competency levels of drivers of trucks and other public transport vehicles on our roads, we believe a change of culture and behaviour among drivers is possible, and we are confident that this will contribute to making our roads safer.”

CCBSA has a number of other initiatives to help reduce pressure on the road infrastructure. The company has moved 30 percent of its deliveries from peak to off-peak times, while speed-governing devices have been installed across its fleet.

To curb driver fatigue, CCBSA has added a second driver to long-distance shipments planned for service times greater than 12 hours, going beyond the legal allowance of 15 hours driving time for a single driver.

“Discussions are currently under way with relevant government stakeholders. As a major road user, we are committed to working alongside government as it implements its strategic plans (including moving from road to rail) to improve road safety and reduce congestion on our roads.

“We recognise that for as long as we have our fleet of trucks moving across the country, we carry a joint duty and responsibility to support government in managing road congestion. We continuously think of ways to run our business efficiently, and this includes how we get our product to customers safely and on time,” Jika concludes.

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Focus on Transport

FOCUS on Transport and Logistics is the oldest and most respected transport and logistics publication in southern Africa.
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