Premier Foods has told its delivery staff to pay the costs of the e-tolls from their own salaries. Photo: Thobile Mathonsi Premier Foods has told its delivery staff to pay the costs of the e-tolls from their own salaries. Photo: Thobile Mathonsi
Premier Foods has come up with a solution to the e-tolls: it has told its delivery staff to pay the costs from their own salaries.
Drivers at Premier Foods’ Aeroton bakery, which makes Blue Ribbon bread, were told in a letter earlier this month the e-tolls were too expensive for the company to pay, and they should find alternative routes for making deliveries.
“Due to the high cost of the e-tolling, it is required that you seek alternative routes to deliver to your customers, (as) the company cannot afford to use roads that are e-tolled,” said the letter, which was issued on April 4.
“… Remember this is being done in the best interest of our customers and consumers. Any person who uses the e-toll roads will be responsible for the payment thereof.”
Three Premier Foods drivers, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity, said this was a near-impossible request because their customers were spread over far-flung areas, and they could go through as many as 10 gantries on a round trip.
Willie van der Linde, regional manager for bakeries at Premier Foods, said he could not say how much the price of bread would increase if the e-tolls were used, but keeping the product as cheap as possible was the motivation for this measure.
Premier Foods driver Jack (not his real name) said: “The company we are working under does not take input from the workers… They have instilled fear and now people are afraid to lose their jobs (if they complain).”
He said many drivers were illiterate and there had been no meeting to discuss the letter. Management had not given them a map of alternative routes, but expected drivers to devise routes themselves.
In response, the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) said freight businesses needed “to evaluate the productivity gains that e-roads can contribute”. Time savings from using the highways would translate into business productivity gains.
Companies could take advantage of e-tag discounts of 48 percent and time- of-day discounts, and could claim back 14 percent VAT of the toll tariffs.
But cost-cutting methods by Premier Foods are not limited to the e-tolls.
One driver, Sam, showed a R500 fine he was given by police because his truck didn’t have a fire extinguisher. He was expected to pay the fine, although the truck was company property.
The drivers said they were also informed that their R5 500 to R6 500 basic salary was due to be changed to commission based on an individual’s bread sales.
Van der Linde refused to comment on a change in salary structure but said the letter had been an oversight by management, and although drivers would be expected to avoid the e-toll routes, they would not be penalised if they used them.
The Star