Increased cargo volumes, Covid-19 absenteeism, and employees’ festive season leave had led to the long delays in the Durban port over the past week, according to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT).
It said in a statement on Friday morning, in response to Freight News’s questions about complaints from transporters regarding delays of up to eight hours at the Durban Container Terminal, that it had also hired additional staff to boost production at the busiest port in the country.
Transporters had complained that poor staff leave planning, failing equipment - particularly straddles - and an ineffective truck booking system had led to the frustrating delays over the past two weeks.
“The festive season is one of the busiest periods in the calendar of logistics and TPT operations. Incidents of workplace Covid-19 cases, along with scheduled holiday breaks, intensified the workload - especially towards the end of December where we noted an increase in cargo volumes,” TPT said.
Currently, the Durban Container Terminals were averaging 12 gangs (operational teams on duty at a time per shift), according to the statement.
“This number dipped to nine gangs toward the end of December owing to reported Covid-19 cases and planned leave. A total of 49 operators permanently recruited in November are undergoing training to increase the number of gangs to 14 per shift,” TPT said.
Maintenance of critical equipment like ship-to-shore cranes and straddle carriers has been built into the planning.
“Two ship-to-shore cranes have returned to operations after a two-month-long midlife refurbishment.
"The terminals have also finalised capital investment plans that will see additional new equipment over the next three years,” TPT said.
It added that the truck booking system remained a global tool for easing congestion and ensuring maximum use of TPT capacity. “However, the misalignment of industry hours to our 24-hour operation is still a challenge and engagements are ongoing.
“TPT has urged industry to capitalise on the underutilised night shift capacity across its container terminals. There are also incidents of some truckers booking slots that they eventually do not use, which makes the system inaccessible to others, creating a disruption to the system,” TPT said
