New Trucking Legislation - National Road Traffic Act 93 1996

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The National Road Traffic Act - 93/96 - Dangerous Goods, regulates the transportation of all dangerous goods with the intention of improving the general safety standards on our roads. On 1 August 2001, Chapter 8 of the new Act came into effect. All of the packaged gas products supplied by Air Products are classified under the new law as dangerous, because of their chemical and physical properties. Hazard class 2.1 includes all flammable gases, class 2.2 includes those that are neither flammable nor toxic but are stored under pressure and class 2.3 includes the toxic gases.

In principal, the new legislation dictates that a vehicle and driver can no longer transport just any number of cylinders or certain combinations thereof, unless the vehicle and driver adhere to certain directives. The full requirements are dictated by chapter 8 of the new act (regulations 273-283), in conjunction with SABS Codes of Practice 0228, 0229, 0230, 0231 & 0232.

One of the immediate requirements was that Air Products, as a qualified operator, ensure that agreements were concluded between the relevant parties, which cover the loading, transportation, and unloading of dangerous goods. Air Products is further obliged to ensure that any dangerous goods they manufacture, are loaded and transported in such a manner that adheres to the regulations as laid down by law. In order to demonstrate their compliance with the new law, all Air Products customers and distributors signed an agreement with the company agreeing to abide by the new legislation. Distributors in turn, who deliver Air Products' products to 3rd party customers, must ensure that similar agreements are signed with their customers.

The new standard involved replacing the Hazchem placards with a new system of placards, the carrying of Tremcards as well as a Dangerous Goods Declaration for each load of Packaged Gases. The overall intention of the new standards is to provide more useful information to Emergency Services Personnel in the event of any accident or incident involving Dangerous Goods, so that they can be better prepared to respond effectively.

Air Products South Africa (Pty) Ltd is the leading manufacturer and supplier of industrial and specialty gas products as well as a distributor of specialty chemical products throughout Southern Africa. Through its world-class production and distribution facilities, Air Products is the largest tonnage gas supplier in the country and has a pipeline supply network of over 150 km. The company distributes liquid and gaseous products nationally using its modern fleet of cryogenic tankers and cylinder trucks to provide highly reliable supplies of gases to major corporations in the steel, stainless steel, chemical, petrochemical and engineering industries. The company operates 22 manufacturing plants and has 9 branches countrywide.

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