Load limits change at borders on the same corridor, forcing reloading, penalties or both. Harmonisation agreements exist on paper; implementation is the gap.

Corridor checkpoints impose delay and unofficial cost that no rate accounts for and no operator can refuse. It is a governance problem, not a commercial one.

One-stop border posts reduce dwell where they function. Extending and resourcing them is a state-to-state process.

Third-party cover and transit permits must be arranged country by country. Regional schemes exist and are unevenly recognised.

The continental trade area was built to remove these barriers. Whether the transport protocols deliver is the question drivers are best placed to answer and least often asked.

On some routes drivers have been targeted over nationality. It requires policing and political leadership, and a continental body cannot be silent about it.

Much of the fleet is second-hand imports. Emissions and roadworthiness rules arrive with no replacement route for the operators running them.

Fuel specification differs across the corridor and damages engines the operator cannot afford to repair. Standards are set nationally.

Equipment finance on terms an individual operator can meet is largely unavailable across the continent.