Vehicle Underwriters Reward Law Abiding Trucking Operators

July 7 - One of the key problems on South Africa's roads lies with the way truck operators run their businesses.

In many cases, the trucks are in such poor condition that they are enough to cause road accidents.

Add to that the fact that operators demand that their drivers work exceptionally long hours - who in turn abuse drugs and alcohol to keep awake and relieve stress - and the results are unfortunately felt on our roads on a daily basis.

Insurance companies are well aware of these problems and typically refrain from paying out on policies where operators have failed to meet their policy obligations.

Oftentimes, these policies are so ambiguous to begin with, that operators had no knowledge from the beginning what was expected from them.

All this adds to a vicious circle of unethical operators who breed unethical drivers, and unethical insurance groups who take advantage with small print that is far from transparent.

Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) Underwriters has decided to take a different approach to the whole matter in a bid to introduce a new level of ethics, starting with its strategy of "caring for trucks and truckers".

"We don't want to repudiate," said the Managing Director of HCV, Chris Barry. "We hope that by empowering drivers and operators we will not only make South African roads safer, but also reduce the risk of accident or breakdown, allowing us to keep our premiums low."

As such, the group has introduced effective measures that it hopes will change things on the roads.

These include free driver training initiatives and training operators to recognize trucks that are deemed unroadworthy.

Another important step taken is simplifying the wording on insurance policies.

By rewarding law-abiding truck operators, the group hopes that the results will be seen on South African roads in the long run.