Hybrid booking system fails to address delays at MPT

The hybrid booking procedure
for transporters using the
Durban roll-on roll-off (roro)
terminal at the Point has
achieved its aim, but this still
doesn’t make the truckers using
the terminal happy.
The idea behind the booking
system was to get rid of the
delays for truckers who were
having to queue up at the gates
waiting for their turn to get
into the terminal.
But this has now been
overcome, according to Zeph
Ndlovu, executive manager for
the Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) multi-purpose terminals
at the Port of Durban. “Now
when they come they’re
expected and they can instantly
enter the terminal,” he told
FTW.
And this couldn’t have
been achieved without the
collaboration of the trucking
companies, he added. “If we
work together we’re able to
achieve what’s needed.
“We’ve seen some fantastic
results, and we’re currently
looking at making it even
better.”
In this respect, the truckers
are delighted.
“It’s gone very well,” said
Carl Webb, MD of Project
Logistics Management, and
representative of the Road
Freight Association (RFA) and
the SA Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff) at these
transport forum meetings.
“And the booking system
certainly works.”
But at the multi-purpose
terminals there is a problem,
and it’s exactly the opposite
of the one at the container
terminals, he told FTW.
“At the DCT (Durban
Container Terminal),” he said,
“you have to queue up for ages
until you get to the gate. But
once there, you go through the
terminal in minutes.
“But at the Point ro-ro
terminal you get through the
gate right away, but then have
to wait an age till you get
through the terminal.”
The problem, he added, is an
‘on-going one’ at this terminal
– a shortage of handling
equipment, particularly for
containerised cargoes.
“In typical TPT fashion,”
Webb said, “they have
upgraded the ocean-side of
things with brand-new mobile
cranes for ship loading/
unloading, but not the landside.
As usual, this stems from
the historic TPT conviction
that the shipping lines are their
customers, when in fact it’s the
cargo owners.”
At the Maydon Wharf
multi-purpose terminal it’s
just as bad, according to
Webb. “They’ve got another
new mobile crane due there,”
he said, “but once again,
it’s the ocean-side they’re
concentrating on.”