There is almost nothing around you right now that hasn’t been moved by a truck. Due to South Africa’s rail freight capacity constraints, 80% of all goods moved in and around South Africa are done so by road freight. Road freight keeps mines, factories, farms, and retailers running, contributing to South Africa’s GDP and supporting well over a million jobs.

But, because of this concentration, the safety on South Africa’s roads is also increasingly at risk. A report by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) cited more than 2,200 fatal truck crashes involving over 3,500 trucks over a five-year period.

The situation becomes more tenuous over high-traffic periods such as the South African summer holidays between December and January. Holidaymakers are tired and rushing to get home, and roads are more congested than usual. Add to this the usual high volume of trucks, and the situation is fraught with risk.

But, there are steps both the freight industry, including truck drivers, as well as regular drivers, can take to reduce road risk for everyone’s safety.

Truck driver wellness critical for road safety as risk landscape intensifies - Government’s long-term transport plan, which aims to move bulk commodities like coal back to rail, is a step in the right direction. Fewer heavy loads on the roads mean fewer accidents and less wear and tear. Many large operators and mines already contribute to maintaining the provincial roads they use, and that really makes a difference.

But off the main highway's conditions are tougher. Many secondary roads were never designed for large trucks and lack basic infrastructure like truck stops and lighting, and that’s where many incidents occur. Add increasingly unpredictable weather, from Cape storms to KwaZulu-Natal floods and snowstorms, and the risk landscape becomes more complex every year.

Santam and RTMC’s insights from years of Truck Driver Wellness initiatives consistently point to driver fatigue as one of the leading causes of road crash fatalities involving trucks “92% of participating drivers attributed fatigue as the major cause of truck accidents. Fatigue mixed with degrading road infrastructure is a lethal mix.

Truck drivers work under uniquely physically demanding conditions, putting them at increased risk of both fatigue and a range of chronic health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension. Prioritising the health and wellness of truck drivers is not a nice-to-have but a business necessity for freight owners. Aside from the drivers being invaluable, trucks can cost approximately R3.5-million to replace, and that’s without cargo costs factored in.

Leaders need to make driver wellness a top-down commitment where the importance of physical and mental wellbeing is highlighted throughout the company. Implement a health and well-being policy that includes fatigue management. This means enforcing strict driving hours with consequences for shifts that stretch beyond these hours, flexible working hours (with cognisance of how long drivers have been away from their families), peer-led wellness programmes, ongoing education, and frequent nutrition and health checks.