BUILDING MATERIALS
ADVERTORIAL
When a double-cab bakkie should be an
Isuzu N-Series crew cab
Light commercial vehicles – affectionately and popularly called
bakkies in South Africa – are subjected every day to two critical road
safety issues on our roads – overloading and accommodating the crew.
Every day sees an overloaded
bakkie on the road with the extra
crew sitting on top of the load. This is in
contravention of Road Traffic Regulation
247 where people and goods may not be
carried in the same compartment unless
separated by a partition. Overloading falls
under Reg. 239 (1) (a) (i) where exceeding
the manufacturer’s plated gross vehicle
mass (GVM) is an offence – for plating see
Reg. 245. Where a bakkie lacks sufficient
wheelbase, ladders, steel rods and plastic
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HARDWARE AFRICA 2014
pipes often exceed maximum permissible
rear load-projection of 1,8m – Reg. 227 (1)
(a) (iii).
Why do bakkies run out of GVM?
Simply, a one-ton bakkie is not a one-ton
bakkie where extras are included, both
equipment and people. Permissible GVM
is a ‘concrete’ figure that may not be
exceeded – extra crew and accessories
such as canopies, tow-bars, strengthened
bumpers, bull bars and rubber mat flooring
must be deducted from payload. Three
people at 90kg each and extra equipment
can easily reduce payload to around
250kg. A 50% overload is quickly reached
on a light commercial vehicle with a GVM
of around 2750kg.
It is also a safety contradiction in terms
where a driver and front passenger in a
bakkie wear seat belts but the service crew
on top of a load are exposed to extreme
danger on the road.
Overloading is a creeping factor of
mass/volume ratios. In the construction