Landside efficiency in sharp focus

The greatest challenge that the road transport industry is experiencing at present is the inefficiency of the landside operations at the Port of Durban. So said Sue Moodley, MD of Transport.com, who has just taken over from Kevin Martin as chairman of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association (DHCA). “The landside operations are faced with daily challenges which impact on the flow of truck movement within the port,” she told FTW, “and this is having a huge impact on the volume of containers that are delivered to clients.” Many production lines throughout the country have to wait for their cargo/containers due to port delays. “This in turn has a negative effective on productivity,” Moodley said, “and raises unnecessary wage bills due to extended working hours having to be outlaid by many. These are just some of the many contributing factors behind the slow growth of the economy.” Added to that, she noted that many trucking companies were battling to sustain their businesses as they were unable to handle the slow landside port operations. As a result, many of these companies eventually have to close down. What are the DHCA plans to rectify this problem? “Due to the unsatisfactory service deliverables which have been met by the various logistics/trucking companies,” said Moodley, “the industry has requested monthly meetings with senior management to air their views. And also to hear from the various terminal management teams their plans as to how they intend to alleviate recurring problems.” This process was started last year, but eventually fell away. “However,” she added, “new management has been appointed, so we are hoping to see a change in the landside deliverables.” The DHCA feeling is that these daily problems need to be identified within the port, and workable measures put into place that can be implemented and monitored by senior management. “Once this happens,” Moodley said, “then this will pave the way forward to us having successful landside port operations.”