Improving Road Freight Transport
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to enter with a full tank of fuel to avoid the fuel levies charged at the retail level, at some borders, the trucks are charged the fuel levy on the capacity of their fuel tank (box 6.3).
Axle Load Limits and Road Damage Developing countries offer very few success stories on the imposition of axle load limits. Weigh scales are purchased and installed, and enforcement campaigns are waged for a month or two, but then political attention
Box 6.3
SADC Cost Recovery Mechanism In the SADC*, the types of charges payable by vehicle operators when entering a country and using its roads vary considerably. There are two types of charges: (1) compulsory access fees, which are all charges payable at border posts upon entering a country and (2) other fees, including charges payable on toll roads, fuel levies, and fuel taxes. Almost all countries considered in the SADC’s study charge compulsory access fees: seven of them apply transit charges, fees, or tolls, while the other four rely exclusively on other types of access fees (road transport permit fees, cross-border charges, and so on). However, almost every country considered imposes fuel levies (eight countries) or fuel taxes (three countries). Only South Africa and Mozambique currently apply fees on toll roads; in contrast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho do apply tolls, but these are collected at the border. The SADC study shows significant disparities in charges levied at the border post when entering a specific country. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest (US$565 for heavy vehicles), followed by Zimbabwe (US$370), Zambia (US$80), Namibia (US$43–US$136), Botswana (US$36–US$121), and Mozambique (US$100). Lesotho (US$2–US$4) and Malawi (US$8–US$15) have the lowest charges. South Africa is the only country where no compulsory access charges are levied at the border; however, toll fees are levied if transit vehicles travel on toll roads.** Source: Africon 2007. *SADC member states are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. **The compulsory access charge considered is the minimum payable for each country and vehicle type (assuming the minimum distance traveled within the destination country). Charges payable in advance for a specific time period are also based on the minimum (for example, per month, such as in the case of foreign vehicle permit fees for light vehicles in Tanzania).