Shippers’ Council seeks to regulate  carriage of goods by land

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC)  has begun a legislative drive that will enable it regulate and reform the process of  carriage of goods by land.

That measures was to reduce the rate of  accidents on the highways and introduce sanity into the trucking operations in the country.

Consequently, it has under the supervision of the Transportation Ministry, drafted an Executive  Bill that will be sent to the National Assembly anytime from now,  for Passage  into law and subsequently assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Council has resolved  to have such legislation, because of its conviction  that  carriage of goods  by land ,  currently  lacks  such laws, while there is no legal protection of any kind or even  a define insurance backing for the operators and practitioners of the trade, even as the anomaly has made it difficult for foreigners  to invest in the sector.

The Executive Secretary of the Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello said this on the sideline, of the just concluded, Dr Taiwo Afolabi Maritime Conference which held at the University of Lagos .
He said there was an immediate need for  reforms in the trucking system,  to correct the current  owner , driver   arrangement  and replace it with  registered fleet , which will pass all the tests so that carriage of goods from the Ports to the hinterlands would be secured fast  and safe because of the importance  of cargo delivery  to the economy.

According to him, ‘’the system that is operational now ,is characterized by rickety trucks breaking down all the way and there is no legislation to guide carriage of goods by land.This is why Nigerian Shippers Council  has gotten an Executive  Bill which it proposes to pass to Parliament through  the Federal Ministry of Transportation. There must be obligations, rights , duties of the carrier and owners of the cargoes among others

‘’ To proffer solutions to the problem  of  accidents, caused by  fatigue by drivers   for example, after six or eight hours of driving, the driver must have a rest.The Shippers’ Council is convinced  that  in  regulating  carriage of goods by land,  there is  a need  for insurance and  liability  in the trade,  as well as  responsibility of the owner of the transport  and the owner of the cargo’’.

He explained that the  Shippers’ Council is promoting truck transit parks  to partly stop the habit of drivers parking  articulated vehicles unnecessarily on the shoulders of the highways, adding that the  parks have  many facilities including showers  and  restaurants apart from the fact that they have the capacity to promote employment.

Bello stated that investors look out for an organised  transport sector  to invest in the economy adding  that if it is operated  haphazardly, and it lacks infrastructure such as roads , proper rail link to the hinterlands , dearth of seaports, river ports and dry ports,   there would be problem, because if the  transport system is not efficient , it means that the economy will be sluggish