Publications
Partners
Two men were spotted on Monday catching a ride on the back of a truck carrying flammable liquid on a freeway in Johannesburg.
In a video, recorded by a vehicle driving behind the moving truck, the men are smiling and waving from their precarious perch. The truck was barrelling down the N14 highway, close to the Jean Avenue turn-off, at the time.
Imperial Logistics told News24 that they had become aware of the incident after the video was posted on social media.
The company's control room immediately contacted the driver, to alert him to the situation.
"If the driver had stopped, these guys could have jumped into the cab of the truck, so it is not a safe situation for the driver," Thiloshini Ramdass, Imperial Logistics public relations officer, told News24.
Patrick O'Leary, managing editor of fleetwatch.co.za, recently wrote an exhaustive article titled "South Africa's truck drivers are under siege", that looked at the daily risks and dangers they face.
"It is unlikely that the driver would have known that there were people at the back of his truck. You must remember that the vehicle is over 22 metres long, weighing 56 tons when fully loaded," O'Leary told News24.
"Even if the two fell off the truck, the driver would hardly even notice, so it is very dangerous."
Imperial Logistics said that panic buttons were installed in all of their trucks, allowing drivers to summon help. In such an event, a response team would be dispatched by the control room in under a minute.
Unfortunately, in this instance the driver did not use the panic button, as he was unaware of what was going on.
"In the future, we are looking at removing all of the ladders from the back of the truck, to minimise the risk of people jumping onto the vehicle," said Ramdass.
