BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | August 2023
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TRANSPORT AND FREIGHT INDEX
After reaching its highest index level
on record at a revised 122.6 in May,
the Ctrack Transport and Freight Index
(Ctrack TFI) declined by 0.5% in June
2023 to 122.0. This is the first monthly
contraction in six months and signals
the loss of momentum in the logistics
sector. In addition, three of the six
sub-sectors that make up the Ctrack
Transport and Freight Index declined
on a monthly basis (Rail, Road and Air
Freight), two recorded marginal growth
(Pipeline Transport and Sea Freight),
while Storage and Handling were
the only sub-sector to show strong
growth. On an annual basis, the Ctrack
Transport and Freight Index is tracking
6.5% higher in June, compared to the
7.5% year-on-year level measured in
May, but near-term challenges will
likely dampen momentum further in
coming months.
“The transport sector’s resilience has
been incredible, but unfortunately, a
variety of additional geopolitical factors
has put an end to its recent good perfor-
mance,” says Hein Jordt, Chief Executive
Officer of Ctrack.
Derailing the hope of a continued
synchronised recovery is the fact that
only four of the six sub-sectors increased
on a quarterly basis in June 2023. Rail
and Road Freight were the laggards
during the second quarter, while the
latter’s underperformance might have
played a role in the star performance
of the storage and handling sub-sector.
On an annual basis, four of the six
sub-sectors have declined, despite the
overall index level increasing by a still
healthy 6.5% compared to a year earlier.
Among the sub-sectors, Road Freight,
which is also the biggest sub-sector,
has always been the most resilient, but
annual growth has now subsided notably
to 12.0% year on year in June 2023, a
far cry from annual growth of 28.2%
measured during August 2022.
Road Freight has experienced
multiple headwinds in the past two
months. Early in June, an IT glitch
delayed the electronic clearance of
vehicles going through the borders,
causing widespread congestion and
delays for cargo transporters. Although
this issue was resolved within days, the
congestion took some time to unravel
and had a material impact, especially on
the number of heavy vehicles that could
traverse the N4 route. While heavy
vehicle traffic subsided on both the N3
and N4 routes during June, the latter
recorded a double-digit monthly decline.
Early in July, the sector was also the vic-
tim of a spate of arson attacks targeting
trucks on the N3 in KwaZulu-Natal, which
subsequently spread to Mpumalanga
and Limpopo. The negative impacts
thereof will, in all likelihood, be felt in
the July Ctrack Transport and Freight
Index too.
“While incidents of violence have
caused major setbacks during the last
two months, it has highlighted the im-
portance of fleet management systems
and linked hardware such as camera
systems, as these systems assisted police
in identifying and arresting persons
targeting drivers and trucks,” says Jordt.
In addition, the Road Freight payload
for the country as a whole, as published
by StatsSA in its monthly Land Transport
Survey, also declined by 6.2% on a
monthly basis. The Ctrack Transport and
The South African logistics sector
lost momentum in June
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
-2%
-4%
-6%
-8%
-10%
Jan-18
Jan-19
Jan-20
Jan-21
Jan-22
Jan-23
Apr-18
Apr-19
Apr-20
Apr-21
Apr-22
Apr-23
Jul-18
Jul-19
Jul-20
Covid-19 hard lockdown
KZN looting
KZN floods
Transnet strike
Recovery post lockdown
-0.5%
-3.4%
3.1%
Jul-21
Jul-22
Oct-18
Oct-19
Oct-20
Oct-21
Oct-22
CTRACK
Graph 1 Ctrack Transport and Freight Index – monthly change
Storage
25.8
Pipeline
2.9
Sea
1.5
Air
0.4
Road
-1.1
Rail
-4.3
-10%
-5%
0%
10%
5%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Graph 1 Quarterly growth in sub-components of the Ctrack Transport and
Freight Index (%)
CTRACK