The new loop ramps at the Dinwiddie Interchange on the N3 will open to traffic today (11 July), the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has announced.

The construction of the new ramps from Grey Avenue onto the N3 is part of Sanral’s Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).
And while this will help to ease congestion in the area, road users are warned that construction work has not been concluded and road users should reduce speed and observe road signs, while familiarising themselves with the new traffic movement.

If you are shipping articles across international borders, you may not realize that each country has a list of prohibited items that you cannot send in the mail to those countries. Guns, ammunition, hazardous substances and illegal narcotics are a pretty common standard for most countries, but many of the items listed below might take you by surprise.

 Unused Envelopes. You got that correct. If you are mailing into Sri Lanka, do not send envelopes inside your envelopes. And don’t send blank stationery, or pens, pencils, chalk or erasers. I have a feeling that the government there doesn’t want your correspondence to receive a response.

Chessboards. I’m not sure if the American soldiers in Afghanistan are playing chess or not, but you cannot mail chessboards into Afghanistan. Absolutely prohibited!

Playing cards. This item has made it onto the lists of several countries. And, no, it is not OK to send them one card at a time. A deck of cards, is a deck of cards, no matter how many envelopes it takes to send it in.

Musical greeting cards. Sorry friends, but if you sent a musical birthday card to your relatives in Cuba or Quatar, it probably got confiscated before it reached them. Birthday and holiday greetings must be of a silent nature. No cute little tunes playing while you read your card.

Unused postage stamps. This is actually a very common item. Many countries prohibit the mailing of unused postage stamps within your correspondence. Apparently, they want to make sure each individual buys their postage stamps locally. There is no gifting of postage, at least not via postal delivery.

Soap. This is a no-no in many countries, including the United States. No shipping soap across borders. Each country must use native soaps. Who knows what might happen to the Italians if they started showering with soap made in Ireland? They might all end up with freckles.

Shoes. No putting your shoes in the mail and shipping them over to some poor soul that doesn’t have a pair in another country. No trading shoes across the borders either. There are some strict rules about mail carriers transporting sneakers.

Blank invoices. You can send your billing invoices in the mail to any country, but there are certain countries that won’t let you send a blank invoice form in the mail to its citizens.

Currency. Please don’t send cash. Even if it weren’t illegal, it just isn’t wise to send cash of any type through the mail system. This is true, regardless of where you live or where you’re sending to.

Cigarettes. Did you ask your cousin in France to mail you some cigarettes in the U.S.? That’s not going to fly with the custom’s agent. Mailing of cigarettes is prohibited in many countries around the world, including the U.S.

The threat of strikes by postal workers in London in a dispute over jobs was lifted today when a deal was reached with the Royal Mail.

The Communication Workers Union said that following weeks of intensive talks, guarantees had been given of no compulsory redundancies in the capital despite the planned closure of a number of centres.

Dave Ward, the union’s deputy general secretary, said: “Negotiations have been difficult, but the agreement we have breaks new ground on job security for postal workers, which has been our key concern. These employment safeguards are amongst the very best in the UK.

“Royal Mail and the union have committed to a new joint consultation of staff in London to give them real choice over their futures. It means every existing full and part-time employee who wants to remain in Royal Mail employment can now do so.

“There is also more money available for people who transfer, improved job allocation procedures and better commitments on transport issues.

“It will mean two out of the seven mail centres within Greater London closing in the summer of 2012, but crucially this will now be done in a way that puts people first. It’s an important approach that will bring necessary operational change which looks after staff and customers as well as the company.”

CWU members in London had voted to go on strike over the closures.

The US may reconsider its plans for 100% scanning of all inbound containers from foreign ports.

According to IFW, US Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano said recently that Congress was now considering a more layered approach to container security and was developing a combined system that would include scanning, data analysis, risk analysis, physical checks and closer co-operation with ports and countries around the world.

An advisory has once again gone out to dangerous goods hauliers and logistics service providers (LSPs) – ensure that you have management systems in place to properly identify and control the risks arising from the transport of dangerous chemicals.

The Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA) says member companies that are signatories to the Responsible Care initiative are required to ensure that their transport providers comply with the South African Safety and Quality Assessment System (SQAS).

SQAS is designed to evaluate the quality, safety and environmental performance of LSPs and chemical distributors in a uniform manner, by means of a single standardised assessment carried out by independent third-party auditors.

“SQAS audits ensure that transport service providers are assessed according to an internationally accepted audit protocol modified to suit local conditions,” says CAIA executive director, Dr Laurraine Lotter. “Chemical companies need assurance that these operations are carried out in a safe and quality manner with due regard for the protection of employees, the public and the environment.”

A report on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is expected to be finalised in the next week.

According to a spokesman for the Department of Transport, the steering committee appointed by Transport Minister S’busiso Ndebele to review the Gauteng freeway toll tariff structure, met in Pretoria on Friday to make final touches to the much-awaited report.

The report will now be submitted to the minister and Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane. “The response has been overwhelming, with the deadline for submission of the report having to be shifted.” The consolidated report will be finalised on Friday, May 13, and a follow-up meeting with interested parties arranged thereafter.

“As the steering committee consolidates and prepares to finalise its report, it is our hope that this process has enabled us to engage fruitfully on this important initiative in the overall improvement of our transport infrastructure and system,” Ndebele said in a statement.

Shocking statistics on the unroadworthiness of South Africa’s heavy vehicles have been revealed thanks to a privately initiated traffic officer training programme, says the South African Road Federation (SARF).

Dubbed ‘Brake and Tyre Watch’, the programme involves training traffic officers on how to identify unroadworthy brakes and tyres on heavy vehicles. Over 600 traffic officers have attended the two-day course that covers both theoretical and practical instruction. The practical element includes actual truck inspections, and of the 325 vehicles inspected to date, 204 have been served with discontinuation notices.

The most recent project took place in Bloemfontein where 85% of the vehicles tested had deficient tyres or brakes, or both. Other centres have included Polokwane where 11 out 12 trucks tested were found wanting, and the Western Cape, where all 25 vehicles tested were found unroadworthy.

South Africa recorded a trade surplus of R0.97 billion in March compared to a surplus of R0.17 billion in the same month last year. This follows the deficit of R0.35 billion in February this year, a month to month increase of R1.32 billion. The surplus was due to an increase in exports of 15.3% and an increase in imports of 12.7%.

Exports in March amounted to R60.24 billion with imports at R59.27 billion, translating into the surplus of R0.97 billion.

Exports increased by R8.0 billion (15.3%) and imports by R6.7 billion (12.7%).

The trade surplus for March 2011 was buoyed by higher commodity exports specifically in precious and semi-precious stones and mineral products.

The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R4.5 billion compared to R9 billion in 2010, an improvement of R4.5 billion or 49.9%.

Figures published today in Global Express Parcels 2011  reveal that the market for express parcels grew by nearly 7% in 2010 to reach €141,555m. The level of growth went some way towards correcting the significant fall in value the year before (10.6%) although the market is still considerably below the peak in 2008.

Although the market as whole rebounded strongly, performance from market to market was very patchy. Overall the international express parcels sector performed better than its domestic counterpart, showing strong growth throughout all regions as international trade rebounded on the back of inventory re-stocking. The trend was consolidated by a hardening of rates and the migration of shippers to higher value products, although there is still a great deal of caution.

Domestic operations, especially in Europe, had a much tougher time. Although experiencing some levels of growth, volumes were still subdued in many markets. The one exception was in the online shopping sector, where all B2C express companies benefited from a surge in demand from consumers.

This trend was especially acute in China, where express companies’ capacity failed to keep up with demand, leaving many shoppers dissatisfied with levels of quality and their parcels delivered late for the holiday period.

As well as the economic challenges, the report analyses the range of external pressures the industry faced in 2010. These included volcanic ash clouds in Europe; terrorist activity, security fears as well as bad weather. Rising fuel costs in 2011 and instability in the Middle East look set to be the main challenges in 2011.

Commenting on the state of the market, John Manners-Bell, Ti’s CEO said, “The rebound in 2010 came as a relief to the express industry which was particularly hard hit by the recession. However, although parts of the sector have flourished, this is not an across-the-board recovery by any means. Whilst carriers are doing better in Asia and North America, they are still struggling in parts of Europe, especially in the domestic market. ”

Looking forward, Manners-Bell concluded: “Despite this, the future for the industry is relatively bright. Economic growth has returned and fears of a double dip recession have proved unfounded.  2011 certainly won’t be easy, but express operators – especially those present in emerging markets – have every reason to be optimistic.”

In South Africa, protracted labour disputes feature as one of the major risks to supply chains, being 2.5 times higher than the world average. This is according to the recently completed Phase II of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics Global Risk Survey.

Comparatively, the local survey finds that extended loss of electricity is a risk that is 5 times higher than the world average. Employee theft/executive misdeeds come in 4 times higher and disease/infestation, 2.3 times higher.

Seven types of risk were identified by the survey, including ‘internal operations disruptions’, ‘people not available’ and ‘cannot ship or deliver products’, all of which have a bearing within labour disputes.

Strike action is a fundamental right within the South African regulatory context. It is also important, however, to consider the negative impact that protracted labour negotiations have on South Africa’s economic performance.

For example, the lengthy industrial strike action immediately following the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM back tracked significantly positive perceptions relating to South Africa.

Within the supply chain context, last year’s Transnet-related strike action by the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU) and the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (UTATU) led to major companies being unable to supply customers.

From a positive perspective, the survey finds that in South Africa, civil unrest/terrorism, and product tampering and counterfeit products have less of an impact on the supply chain. It also benchmarks how the country fares against developed and developing countries. It confirms that South Africa has similar supply chain risks to those of developed countries.

The MIT Global Risk Survey, which explores supply chain risk attitudes and supply chain risk management practices has been completed in 70 countries. The survey enables greater understanding of the different contexts within which increasingly global supply chains operate.

The motivation for the survey was to determine if regional or cultural differences existed and if so, what they might be. Most supply chains are very much international due to globalisation, involving trading partners from different regions, who speak different languages and have experienced different risks.

Phase II enables the understanding of broad risk types. It has identified top supply chain risk factors, both internal and external disruptors and aims to further understanding of perceptions towards risk mitigation, as well as the types of risk management strategies that are currently in place within business.

The survey validates the fact that protracted strike action is perceived to have serious implications for an economy, just as wage negotiations that run smoothly can have a positive impact for South Africa on all fronts, from individual remuneration to economic performance.