Durban congestion moves from road to terminal

It is now a year since the A check facility was introduced at the Durban container terminal (DCT) – the answer, trumpeted Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) at the time, to the long queues of commercial vehicles jamming the Bayhead Road access to the terminal. It was a reversal of the old checking procedures, and would speed up the flow of traffic through the terminal, according to TPT. Has it worked and have things improved, FTW asked Malcolm Sodalay, MD of Sammar Investments and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers’ section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff). “It has certainly removed the congestion from the road,” he said. “But all it’s done is moved it inside the terminal.”