Decongestion at the Port of Durban - where truck traffic backing up on Bayhead Road has become the order of the day - finally appears to be ready for lift-off thanks to Old Durban Airport.
This has emerged after Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) revealed that they have introduced an interim solution to ease congestion by concentrating on the private bulk terminal at Island View Precinct “which has been at the centre of operations-related congestion challenges”.
A statement released by TNPA this morning said: “The affected terminal has secured a truck staging facility at the Old Durban Airport south of Durban where trucks will need to be pre-processed before calling at the port.
“The facility will accommodate 90-100 trucks at any given time.
“Trucks will be called in via a booking system from the old airport and no bulk tipper truck will be permitted directly into the terminal or port precinct without a booking reference for each day and a sticker on the windscreen.
“Each customer will be allocated a number of trucks per day as per the terminal’s operations and shipping plan.”
The port’s general manager, Moshe Motlohi, said: “This process will allow the terminal to call in trucks in manageable batches, helping to alleviate the congestion on Bayhead Road.
“This initiative, combined with the recently launched booking system, will help with volume smoothing into the port.”