On Monday, June 15, 2015, stakeholders gathered at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja to jaw-jaw on the national tragedy caused by articulated vehicles which has resulted in deaths and economic losses.
The summit objectives were as follows: to ensure sustained safe mode of petroleum products haulage, to establish the best way to check and enforce the minimum standards in tankers and trailers operation, to work with Department Of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), cement and flour mill companies and other major fleet operators, as well as tank farms, to ensure insistence on tankers and trailers meeting minimum safety standards and sanctions for default.
Others included ensuring compliance with permissible axle load by stakeholders, implementation of safe to load initiative (a standard to be agreed on and enforced), implementation of fixing of the retro-reflective tapes on trucks to enhance visibility, and possibility of renewal of petroleum tankers through fleet acquisition renewal scheme with collaboration with financial institutions i.e. banks.
Convener of the summit tagged ‘Haulage Operations for National Development’, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, set the tone when he reeled out data on crashes, highlighting those involving articulated vehicles. He took his audience down memory lane, informing them that in 2013, a total of 21,199 vehicles were involved in crashes, in which 1,495 were trailer/tanker-related, representing 7.05 per cent. The following year, a total of 16,779 vehicles were involved in road traffic crashes out of which 998 were trailer/tanker-related representing 5.94 per cent.
He informed them that since the beginning of this year, a total of 1,193 vehicles caused crashes in which 49 were tanker/trailer-related representing 4.11 per cent. Although 49 tankers were responsible for the 1,193 vehicles that caused crashes between January and June 2015, it is worrisome that 16 of the incidents occurred in the first week of June. From preliminary investigations, these crashes were caused by brake failure. The effect of these are measured in the loss of lives, property, damage to vehicle, infrastructure, oil spillage, and economic loss.
Oyeyemi crystal-balled into the future on what the trend might look like if nothing concrete is done to checkmate the madness caused by these operators. Said he: “Given the first week of June crashes of 16 involving tanker/trailers and 46 deaths from Onitsha crash alone, trailers and tankers may cause about 384 crashes before the end of 2015. This may translate to about 17,664 deaths this year. If this trend is not checked, fatality from articulated vehicle crashes would be directly accountable for over 47 per cent of the projected figure for 2015.
What then is responsible for these crashes? I will still rely on the submission of the Corps Marshal who posited the following as the causes of these crashes, especially the recent one; the suspension of the strike by the petroleum union led to increased demand for vehicle to transport fuel across the country. This increased demand for vehicles led to the use of non-roadworthy vehicles which would normally have been put off the road. The second is the unsafe loading/offloading – he noted that there is also the unsafe method of loading and discharging of petroleum products by some transporters, especially with poorly-constructed tankers. This leads to the spillage of their contents at the slightest incident, in addition to the challenge of poor vehicle maintenance.
He also fingered the high cost of new vehicles (new tanker costs about N21 million for the head only and N28 million for the head and trailer, while fairly used is about N10 million for only the head) noting that the prohibitive cost of articulated vehicles force fleet operators to make do with fairly-used trailers and tankers which are prone to incessant breakdowns and road traffic crashes.
Another factor is the use of underage and poorly-trained drivers who sometimes, due to youthful exuberance, indulge in the use of drugs and excessive speeding. Most of these drivers are fatigued, depressed and unkempt, hungry and exhausted due to long stay on the queue to load, driving under poor weather condition and inappropriate vehicle registration which makes strict enforcement and tracking difficult.
In the course of the summit, stakeholders observed and attempted to find answers to the following issues raised. High rate of tankers and trailers’ crashes in the nation is worrisome and should be checked. More attention should be focused on vehicles’ technical wellness/characteristics by fleet operators, loading authorisation and permit – safe-to-load policy adherence is required. Training/retraining of drivers needs to be intensified and sustained. There should be appropriate licensing of drivers and medical fitness.
There is need to decentralise the concentration of tank farms as well as close down illegal ones. Indiscriminate parking of vehicles along the highways (road shoulders) needs to be checked. All deviant drivers should face the wrath of the law when apprehended. There is need to tighten access to professional haulage road drivers’ licence. There is the urgent need for renewal of petroleum tankers, through fleet acquisition renewal scheme with collaboration with financial institutions.
There is also urgent need for life insurance for all Nigerians for ease of compensation in case of loss of lives. Comprehensive welfare package for haulage drivers by their employers is necessary, to motivate them, among others.