CT port weighs in against truck ban plan

Sources at the Port of Cape Town’s container terminal have added their support to the anti-truck ban lobby. “A big part of our operation is around the fruit industry and they work in the early hours of the morning. It would be pointless to allow trucks into the port if they are not going to be able to go anywhere until 9am as it is just going to congest the terminal,” a source told FTW. “Effectively the port will only open now at 9am in the mornings. I don’t see how we can run a 24-hour operation if trucks don’t move for six hours of the day.” Transnet Port Terminals has yet to formulate its official response to the planned ban, but in Cape Town FTW’s sources said it was not going down well as it was expected to have a severe impact on budget and container volumes in general. One industry expert said the proximity of the port to the city was one of the major issues. “The city is built around the port. The container depots are right next to the port. The impact is going to be massive,” he said. “Besides anything else this port has nowhere for trucks to park off between 06:00 and 09:00 in the mornings. That is just beyond unreasonable.” Parking further afield means getting to the port after 9am, pushing operational time even further back. “And using smaller trucks – well how do you load a container out of the port on a small truck that doesn’t even weigh 9 tons? INSERT Besides anything else this port has nowhere for the trucks to park off between 06:00 and 09:00 in the mornings.