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Labour Matters, Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
ONE group of employees that is complex to manage is that of inter-state drivers as inexperienced employers fail to manage them and at times result in collapse of businesses.
Doing consultancy work in the inter-state transport industry keeps the consultant on his toes as in most cases the issue one deals with on a daily basis are unique and different all the time and answers do not lie in the textbook.
One day you are dealing with a driver who carried unauthorised passengers, the next day you are dealing with a driver who is suspected of having stolen fuel and sold it by a layby along the highway, the next day you are dealing with a driver who lost some company property to a prostitute he had hired for the night. In another case, you have the driver’s wife complaining that the driver has a girlfriend and he no longer cares for the family and in worse instances the wife alleges she has been infected with HIV or some other diseases.
There are also cases where drivers pick unauthorised cargo and passengers in foreign countries and get into trouble with transporters and taxi drivers in foreign lands.
In worse cases they break laws and get imprisoned in a foreign country resulting in complex litigation. Another nightmare is a major breakdown of a truck loaded with perishable or some other delicate cargo in a foreign country where it is unsafe for example between Kasumbalesu in Zambia and Lumumbashi in DRC or Tunduma and Iringa in Tanzania.
These are places you do not want to spend the night in the bush. There is also the challenge of corrupt police and border authorities in Africa.
These drivers have developed skills to navigate their way around them without paying a bribe or paying in kind in one way or the other such as giving officers cigarettes, giving them free rides, agreeing to requests to buy items for officers and bring them on return trips.
While I have no evidence talking to drivers, there is also a lot of “underworld business” that is worth thousands of dollars that some inter-state drivers engage in for their own personal gain, for friends and in some instances on behalf of their employers.
Inter-state drivers out of experience are very skilled in border formalities, many of them are well versed with immigration and customs formalities of different countries thus minimising the role of a clearing agent and in some cases eliminating it altogether.
This is knowledge and skill gained over-time, thus, not any driver can do inter-state driving. In addition, the drivers have rudimentary knowledge of motor vehicle maintenance and repairs even if their employers will be having service and repair contracts with service providers in different countries.
They have basic knowledge in languages and way of life in different countries, which helps them get along quickly.
Above all they live in a cruel environment where they spend the day and night in the cab, they are exposed to robbers, health hazards and many other unpalatable things and to survive they have to be streetwise.
The employers have a dilemma in that no book tells one how to manage such workers who are much more than the driver who comes to work everyday.
These are workers who disappear with the employer’s valuable asset for months and all the employer does is to invoice customers who have been serviced in different countries.
These employees are generally not easy to discipline as most are aware that their skills are in serious demand at certain times.
You dismiss him in the morning, by evening he will be employed elsewhere taking a delivery to DRC or Durban or some other country. They usually don’t even bother to attend a disciplinary hearing. They know each other, support each other with jobs when one has been fired.
In conclusion, I also don’t have the answer but the solution lies in understanding the unique nature of the business and strike a balance between business interests and maintaining a disciplined team of drivers.
Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: Email: [email protected]
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