DCT congestion spills over into road chaos

Shippers urged to stagger stacks TERRY HUTSON WITH THE onset of the annual peak season at Durban Container Terminal (DCT), road congestion along Bayhead Road has become chronic. At times the entire length of the double laned Langeberg Road, which leads into DCT, becomes completely blocked by heavy rigs and their trailers. The blocked traffic occasionally spills out onto Bayhead Road, resulting in chaos among other road users trying to access Pier 1 or the Island View sites. SA Port Operations acknowledged the problem in a letter to customers last week saying the usual trend of meeting the closing of stacks, particularly on the last day, had become rife and was leading to the congestion. It seems that until a suitable truck stop is provided in the Bayhead area, from which point lorries can assemble for an orderly procession to the container terminal, the problem is likely to get worse. In the meantime Sapo has asked clients to voluntarily distribute their throughput both to and from the terminal across the three free stack days allocated, as well as across the 24-hour terminal operating window. “The terminal is offering bulk run arrangements during off peak periods from 00.00 - 06.00 and we urge customers with volumes exceeding 50 containers to take advantage of this offer. The terminal will ensure that pre-arrangement of resource allocation is established in order to accelerate quick road turnaround times to the benefit of stakeholders,” says Joe Madlala, acting business unit manager for DCT.