Hauliers appeal for intervention over Port of Durban issues

Harbour carriers are agitating for wider industry intervention over port-side delays that are crippling profit f low and costing the industry millions of rand. They also allege that officials from the very organisation they claim is responsible for throughput inefficiencies are accepting back-handers to speed up processing of containers.Attending a Transport Forum in Durban recently, a staff member from FTW’s advertising department was besieged by transporters who implored her to assist in alleviating their aggravation. What followed was a litany of complaints about how long-standing issues at the Port of Durban were affecting both sides of industry – liner and land side.However, when it comes to containers finally passing through Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), road hauliers say box ships are receiving favourable treatment and off loading containers with little regard for the supply chain impact down the line.One transporter, who runs a concern consisting of more than 100 trucks of which some 32 are dedicated to harbour carriage, said delays last year had cost him around R4 million.He added that his latest bill for port storage was already sitting at R2.6 million. “It wouldn’t be necessary to store goods at the harbour if it weren’t for TPT causing holdups," he added.Arnold Reddy of PKR Transport said: “TPT is constantly playing catch-up but we have to pay for it.”He said if the port had enough stackers and related equipment, and if the equipment was properlymaintained and wasn’t breaking down so often, containers could be moved in under two hours.At least that’s the ideal.Instead containers could take up to 36 hours, Reddy said, to move from ship to shore and onto a truck.He added that the current ratio of throughput was about 900 boxes in 10 days and that PKR’s losses amounted to roughly 1400 boxes a month.Other transporters, many of whom requested to remain anonymous, said TPT officials requested bribes to process containers more quickly.One transporter had to rush to the forum’s proceedings because he first had a back-hander to honour or risk delaying a load.And despite lines waiting at anchor for days to get berthing slots, a sight to see from hills overlooking Durban where box ships can literally be seen queueing at sea, road hauliers say lines off loading containers are generally favoured, adding to bottlenecking on the land-side.Transporters are also taking issue with banks they claim are extending credit to companies that are not verified by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica), mostly newcomers to the industry who are unrealistically dropping rates and further placing strain on the bottom line of long-serving road hauliers.Responding to a slew of questions, TPT said: “The logistics business requires focused planning and available TPT equipment is spread across water-side, rail, land-side and house-keeping equitably.”It includes careful consideration of workload requirements for each shift.As for the allegations of bribery, TPT said they “would like to appeal to any transporter or member of the public with evidence of bribery within our operations, to please share this information with us. Details like cell phone numbers, names, proof of payments and venue arranged meetings will go a long way in helping with investigations and arrests of the perpetrators of this crime”.TPT said a task team of forensic investigators, working alongside SAPS, had been set up to “root out any form of corruption within our operat ion s”.It also asked that transporters and interested parties make use of the anonymous tip-offs line: 0800 003 056.