Operators: Movement of trucks not regulated

By Patrick Beja

The country has no laws restricting the movement of oil tankers and trucks, transport industry players say.

However, up to the late 1990s there was a presidential edict that restricted their movement at night.

The players say it is left to the discretion of oil tankers and truck owners to restrict movement.

There are those who restrict the time their vehicles should be on the roads to avoid highway bandits, theft of goods and accidents.

Mombasa Kenya Transport Association branch Organising Secretary Sam Machio said many transporters encourage their crew to park the trucks before 7pm and resume driving the following day after 5am.

Administrative rules

He said in the past, the Government came up with administrative rules that restricted trucks’ movement at night.

He, however, said this has since fizzled out because it was not backed by law.

The Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers Union is asking the Government to reconsider the dawn-to-dusk rule so that trucks and oil tankers are banned from the roads at night.

Secretary-General Nicholas Mbugua said the rule was enforced during the Moi regime to curb accidents, but it was now business as usual for transporters and Government.

Speaking on the telephone from Nakuru, Mr Mbugua urged the Government to enforce rules that would restrict movement of trucks to between 6am and 6pm.

He also asked the Government to address the working hours of drivers, saying fatigue was to blame for most accidents involving trucks.

According to Mbugua, many drivers, including those delivering oil products, spend the day driving or collecting goods from depots and are forced by employers to move them at night.

Fatigued drivers

"The Molo (Sachang’wan) accident is probably due to fatigue because most of our 30,000 members are overworked. This problem should be addressed urgently," Mbugua said.

Meanwhile, Machio, who is general manager at Shiva Carriers, said a Sachang’wan-type disaster could be avoided if the public was educated to keep off scenes of road accidents.

He said some trucks carry petroleum products, inflammable gas and dangerous chemicals and the public should be discouraged from looting goods they did not know.

As a safety measure, he said, the Government may have to arrange for security escort of trucks carrying chemicals and inflammable goods to ensure public safety.

He suggested that a professional emergency response team be formed to attend to disasters and rescue people.

He said South Africa has such an outfit that has trained personnel, is properly funded and equipped with vehicles and helicopters.

In Mombasa, residents have complained that most fuel tankers are parked in residential areas.

The tankers, with inflammable products, are parked for either washing or illegal siphoning of fuel.

The trend is rampant in Tudor, Majengo, Changamwe, Miritini, Ganjoni and Mikindani.

Residents asked the Government to come to their rescue, warning that the trend exposed them to danger.

A Tudor resident, Ms Florence Maina, said tanker drivers have been parking loaded trucks in residential areas for years.

She said children were the most vulnerable because they played near the tankers.

Designated parking areas

Mr Issa Shaban, a resident of Sparki, asked the Government to designate areas for parking oil tankers.

A truck driver who sought anonymity said that according to rules of carrying inflammable products, they were not allowed to park tankers in residential areas.

"We break the safety rules because owners of oil tankers have no interest in getting parking space. Their interest is profit," he said.