When dusk starts to settle, the Highway Junction Truck Stop at Harrimsith becomes a hive of activity as more than a thousand truck drivers descend here to park overnight, refuel, fill up on essentials, take a shower, socialise with friends and get some much-needed rest from their grueling jobs moving freight along South Africa’s busy highways.

Operating 24-hours a day, seven days a week, the Highway Junction Truck Stop is not only Africa’s largest truck stop, but it is also its busiest. Many truck drivers passing along the N3 corridor make Highway Junction their preferred stopover.

The Highway Junction Truck Stop was started by Ben and Amanda Deysel in May 1998. Since 2015, Highway Junction is proud to have partnered with the Transport Sector Retirement Fund. Its facilities have recently been revamped and expanded to offer three forecourts, convenient and secure overnight parking facilities to our country’s trucking fraternity. “We aim to serve the transport community with quality accommodation-, warehousing-, trucking service centre (workshops)-, refueling-, healthy food-, primary healthcare and recreational facilities,” explained Ben Deysel, CEO of Highway Junction.

“It is the only truck stop of its kind and size on the continent with in excess of 1 500 vehicles passing through this facility daily.” It is for this reason that Hollard Insurance, and their co-sponsor the Transport Sector Retirement Fund, chose the Highway Junction Truck Stop as the ideal venue to promote the annual Hollard Highway Heroes competition to truckers last week. Searching for South Africa’s best truck driver – the Hollard Highway Heroes competition

For the first time since the inception of the competition in 2015, the Hollard Specialist Insurance Company, Hollard Trucking (this year) opened its Highway Heroes competition to all truck drivers in South Africa, affording the Transport Sector Retirement Fund and other partners the opportunity to come on board to recognise trucking excellence.

For the duration of the competition, the driving behaviour of entrants in the competition will be closely monitored by the Hollard Trucking Bureau through the utilisation of fleet tracking technology. Through careful monitoring, a pro-active driver-centric approach is followed to manage risk from speeding to fatigue, harsh braking patterns and other high-risk alarms to ultimately improve driver decision-making and actions.

Hollard and its partners are committed to help the transport sector move towards better futures. In this endeavour, we are convinced that initiatives such as the Hollard Highway Heroes competition will go a long way to encourage skills development and excellence in the industry, which in turn will bring about systemic change and improved safety standards, lowering individual risks and help to make our country’s roads safer for all.

“Every day, on the roads, our members carry the responsibility of not only keeping themselves safe, but to also safely transport the goods entrusted in their care, ensuring their employers’ assets are protected, and their fellow road users are considered. Our truckers keep the country’s economy moving forward and the Hollard Highway Heroes competition helps to recognise the key strategic role they fulfil,” said Mandla Nkosi, member of the TSRF board of trustees who also attended the activation at Highway Junction on Tuesday night.

“The awareness drive at Highway Junction was hugely successful with numerous entries into the competition being received on the night,” confirmed Nkosi. Entries into the Hollard Highway Heroes competition close on 31 May 2019. Thereafter drivers will be monitored until 31 July when the top 50 drivers will be chosen and monitored again for a further 45 days. The winner will be announced on 14 November 2019 and will walk away with R 100 000.00 in prize money.

“Together with the TSRF, we are proud to be associated with the Hollard Highway Heroes initiative to recognise South Africa’s best truck driver,” ended Deysel

 The Transport Sector Retirement Fund (TSRF) today announced its support of the 2019 Hollard Highway Heroes competition to search for South Africa’s best truck driver. The TSRF was represented by Mandla Nkosi, a member of the Fund’s board of trustees, at the official launch of the Highway Heroes competition in Johannesburg.  

“The TSRF is proud to be associated with this initiative to recognise South Africa’s best truck driver and we encourage our employers and members to enter the competition and show the country the grit, determination, professionalism and commitment with which our truckers tackle their jobs,” said Nkosi at the launch.

“This initiative will help elevate the good standing of the trucking industry, whilst building capacity, promoting road safety and recognising individual excellence.”

TSRF is committed to responsible investment for the benefit of our members

The TSRF is acutely aware of the occupational demands placed on its members in the transport industry.The Fund provides retirement savings for 70 000 members from 3000 employers earning their bread and butter in this industry.

“The majority of our members, at least 70%, are truck drivers, transporting goods on our country’s road networks,” said Joe Letswalo, the Transport Sector Retirement Fund’s principal officer.“We are keenly aware of the numerous challenges our members face on a daily basis to earn their living. In this regard, the TSRF is committed to responsible investment to not only help grow our members’ retirement benefits (and death- and disability cover), but to also help ensure their well-being and safety while they are still gainfully employed.”

Truck crashes cost the transport industry up to R 18-billion annually and have a devastating effect on individuals, their families, transport operators, aligned industries and indeed the whole country.

“Four years ago, we determined that good-quality truck stops are sorely lacking along SA’s major transport nodes, and given that a major cause of road accidents is driver fatigue, we launched a strategy to ensure that our members, and indeed the broader transport community, would have transport facilities to park and sleep safely,” explained Letswalo.

The TSRF entered into a 50/50 joint venture with the Deysel Family’s Highway Group to expand the Harrismith Highway Junction Truck Stop into a multi-brand, high-end park and sleep facility providing auxiliary services to truckers which include restaurants, primary healthcare and recreational facilities, warehouse space and a vehicle service station (workshop). The Highway Junction Truck Stop is now the biggest and busiest facility of its kind in Africa.

Following its success, the TSRF is in the process of developing similar hubs along major routes throughout the country. Sites have already been earmarked near Cape Town, East London, Colesberg and Musina for project completion during 2020-21.

“Our investment in truck stops brought us closer to our members and provided a keen understanding of the challenges they face. In this regard, their safety is always top of mind. In an attempt to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and enhancing overall road safety, the TSRF entered into a partnership with Arrive Alive to support the transport sector through pro-active measures to mitigate the risks our members face daily whilst performing their duties,” continued Letswalo.

This partnership brought the TSRF to Hollard Highway Heroes Competition.

Hollard Highway Heroes Competition – searching for South Africa’s best truck driver 

For the first time since the inception of the competition in 2015, the Hollard Specialist Insurance Company, Hollard Trucking (this year) opened its Highway Heroes competition to all truck drivers in South Africa, affording the Transport Sector Retirement Fund and other partners the opportunity to come on board to recognise trucking excellence.

For the duration of the competition, the driving behaviour of entrants in the competition will be closely monitored by the Hollard Trucking Bureau through the utilisation of fleet tracking technology. Through careful monitoring, a pro-active driver-centric approach is followed to manage risk from speeding to fatigue, harsh braking patterns and other high-risk alarms to ultimately improve driver decision-making and actions. 

“The TSRF is committed to help the transport sector to move towards better futures. In this endeavour, we are convinced that initiatives such as the Hollard Highway Heroes competition will go a long way to encourage skills development and excellence in the industry, which in turn will bring about systemic change and improved safety standards, lowering individual risks and help to make our country’s roads safer for all,” said Letswalo.

“Every day, on the roads, our members carry the responsibility of not only keeping themselves safe, but to also safely transport the goods entrusted in their care, ensuring their employers’ assets are protected, and their fellow road users are considered. Our truckers keep the country’s economy moving forward and this competition helps to recognise the key strategic role they fulfil.”

Entries to the competition are now open and will close on 31 May 2019. Thereafter drivers will be monitored until 31 July when the top 50 drivers will be chosen and monitored again for a further 45 days. The winner will be announced on 14 November 2019 and will walk away with R 100 000.00 in prize money. 

The Transport Sector Retirement Fund (TSRF) with its 70 000 members from 3000 employers is keenly aware that the majority of its members (70%) earn their bread and butter whilst transporting goods and people on our country’s roads.

“As much as our aim is to preserve the livelihoods of our members and their families (through their retirement funds and death- and disability cover), we are also committed to help ensure their comfort and safety while they are still actively employed,” says the Fund’s principal officer, Joe Letswalo.Truck crashes cost the transport industry up to R 18-billion annually and have a devastating effect on individuals, their families, transport operators, aligned industries and indeed the whole country.

“As a retirement fund, we continually look for ways to improve members’ lives. In this endeavour, the TSRF has developed a responsible investment strategy to build more truck stops to enhance the safety and standard of overnight parking facilities for truck drivers; and to create transport hubs along major routes where transporters can easily access quality restaurants-, primary healthcare-, refuelling and auxiliary services,” explains Letswalo.There are an insufficient number of truck stops, and no established truck stop brand in South Africa; and often the existing truck stops do not provide adequate rest and security facilities.

TSRF’s truck stop investment strategy aligns with the CSIR’s research findings and recommendations, including more and better rest areas; facilities for regular safety checks; improved integration of road safety and fleet management systems; and improved regulation.

“We, at TSRF, consider truck stops to be this missing link in the country’s road transport and safety strategy.”The Transport Sector Retirement Fund aims to develop a national truck stop brand which will create a strong, recognisable identity as an endorsement of standards and regulations that support the transport and logistics industry. The first truck stop upgraded and further developed by the TSRF is the Harrismith Highway Junction Truck Stop on the N3 corridor. This expansion was done in a joint venture with the Highway Group.  The Highway Junction is now the first multi-brand facility of its kind in South Africa and undoubtedly one of the biggest and busiest truck stops on the continent, with more than a 1000 trucks parking at this facility every night. 

“We have the advantage of being the first mover and believe truck stops will support the creation of efficient transport hubs,” explains Letswalo. The TSRF, through its Truck Stop Fund, has already earmarked sites in Cape Town, East London, Colesberg and Musina for development. The new truck stop sites are expected to be completed during 2020/2021.

“Further to this, our partnership with the Arrive Alive Online Initiative will assist us to cross share knowledge and information in the transport sector, and to create a greater awareness of the challenges faced by transporters, and the steps taken to address these challenges to ultimately limit the risks and exposure our members face on a daily basis,” says Letswalo.

Advocate Johan Jonck, owner of the Arrive Alive Online Initiative, shares this vision. “We look forward to close cooperation with the TSRF and our joint efforts to enhance safety for all the valued members of the Fund. We believe that an informed road user is a safer road user and information portals can contribute to the safer sharing of roads by all road users, irrespective of their modes of transport,” ends Jonck.

Relevant news updates and more information will be made available on www.arrivealive.co.za; as well as on the following blogs: roadsafety.co.za; accidents.co.za; truckandfreight.co.za; insurancechat.co.za; and on Facebook: @ArriveAlive.co.za and Twitter: @_ArriveAlive.