Hauliers battle traffic and port congestion

TRAFFIC AND port congestion are two enemies of swift transport of perishables. But established transport firms know how to deal with these delays. “Our drivers know how to get around the congestion of peak hours. They offload as early as 6am and finish by 9am. We deliver all sorts of goods, a lot of buns, condiments and other items for fast food outlets like Kentucky and McDonald’s,” said Colin Bowring, CEO of Kodiak Shipping in Isando. Kodiak’s trucks – four of the company’s fleet of 44 vehicles are reefers dedicated to the transport of dry or frozen items requiring refrigeration – encounter no challenges offloading at the fast food outlets. However, difficulties can be encountered offloading at the congested port of Durban. “We deliver citrus for export. The truck stops and cold storage facilities are often full, which is a problem,” said Bowring. Fortunately, Kodiak Shipping maintains its own yard at Durban, which permits some offloading, such as containers. “We take off what we can, and we apply pressure to get space cleared for the citrus,” said Bowring, whose company with its staff of 100 has been in business since 2001. Armed with tactics to circumvent such shipping headaches, Kodiak’s goal is annual growth of 10-15%, which is in line with current growth for the company.