Container hubs could reduce logistics costs

ED RICHARDSON THE ESTABLISHMENT of container hubs near strategic border posts, such as that between Namibia and Botswana, will help reduce logistics costs, believes Pooven Moodley, founder and managing director of Windhoek-based Transwide Freight. Trucks can offload their cargo or switch trailers at the hub and turn around immediately. This will reduce the distances being covered by the drivers and shorten border delays as the cargo can be cleared during transhipment. The hubs could also provide warehousing and stuffing/ destuffing services, he adds. There are still several constraints on the Trans- Kalahari corridor, he says, the problem of stray animals on the Botswana roads being one of them. “Trucking companies are understandably reluctant to risk the lives of their drivers, as well as their vehicles and cargo by going through Botswana at night,” he says. “We also need more shipping lines to service Walvis Bay,” says Moodley. One of the ways the Namibian government could attract more services to Walvis Bay would be by discouraging Namibian exports through Cape Town. “Namibia has the infrastructure and favourable rates to compete. There is, therefore, no need to export by road through Cape Town. This represents a significant loss for Walvis Bay,” he says. The company provides customs clearing, multi-modal forwarding, warehousing and bonded facilities, and operates throughout Southern Africa.