FleetWatch

South Africa’s freight industry has taken a step towards presenting a more unified voice to government with the Road Freight Association (RFA) and the South African Freight and Logistics Association (SAFLA) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

South Africa’s transition to zero-emission freight transport continues to gather momentum as more fleet operators gain real-world experience with battery electric trucks. While long-haul electrification remains an emerging opportunity, urban and regional distribution applications are proving that the technology is already commercially viable.

For truck fleet operators, freight distributors and supply chain partners, the ability to reduce environmental impact, improve operational visibility and nurture broad scale collaboration is increasingly influencing enterprise competitiveness.

This Saturday, July 18,is Nelson Mandela International Day officially recognised by the United Nations in 2009 as a day to honour the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. It serves as a global call to action for individuals, communities, governments, civil society and the private sector to take responsibility for building more just, inclusive and equitable societies.

As truck technology rapidly evolves – particularly in the fields of electrification, diagnostics and connected vehicles – dealer capability is becoming as important as the vehicles themselves. FUSO has strengthened its support for distributors across Africa and the Middle East with the launch of a dedicated regional training centre in Dubai, aimed at improving technical expertise, service quality and vehicle uptime throughout the network.

The transition to electric trucks is increasingly about practicality rather than propulsion and in this arena, overseas developments are proving this to be true. As fleet operators look for battery-electric vehicles that can perform the same vocational tasks as their diesel counterparts, manufacturers are focusing on application-specific body solutions.

From the Editor’s Desk July 10, 2026 The past ten days have been hectic – not because I’ve been travelling around the country attending to trucking matters but because I’ve been attending to domestic ones. My wife, to whom I’ve been married for 38 years, woke up one morning suffering severe lower back pain. After a visit to the doctor followed by a sonar scan, it was discovered that she had somehow torn two tendons in her back.

Supply chain resilience, artificial intelligence and public sector procurement reform will dominate discussions when hundreds of supply chain professionals from across Africa and around the world gather in Cape Town later this month for the 48th annual SAPICS Conference.

While South Africa’s rail and port recovery activates, the road freight industry continues to sustain the country’s logistics momentum. Trucks remain the backbone of national supply chains, keeping freight moving despite years of infrastructure underperformance.

Africa’s logistics future will be shaped as much by seamless border crossings as by new roads. While governments continue to invest in strategic freight corridors under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), private sector investment in vehicles, support networks and transport ecosystems will determine how effectively those corridors unlock intra-African trade.