‘Navis will improve vehicle loading’

There is a real demand for specialised cargo handlers to clear out the high volumes of project cargo that pass through Durban port. “We find Durban and Richards Bay ports extremely accommodating for what we do. We work very well together. Transnet’s recently installed Navis system at Pier 2 should vastly improve the vehicle loading there, and they are working on providing staging areas for trucks to park off until ready to load, without congesting the working quay,” said Bruce Lovemore of Lovemore Bros. The company specialises in the complete physical logistics chain of loading, transporting, offloading, positioning and assembling large out-of-gauge machinery primarily for the heavy industry sector of the market. “This non-mobile cargo is generally offloaded by direct discharge, using ships’ gear, and placed straight onto the loadbeds of our trailers. Our responsibility is to have our vehicles alongside the discharging vessel at the specific time as agreed by the agent and shipping line. No mean feat, when you consider all the variables that can cause timing delays and late changes,” said Lovemore. “Thereafter we either deliver the machinery directly to site, or offer our unique machine handling facility where we can stage machinery up to 200 tons a single item, and later effect a sequenced delivery – the right pieces at the right time – to the client that suits his production schedule,” Lovemore said. Sequential delivery is needed by factories that cannot handle a large volume of incoming cargo, or may be in production and cannot afford the delay and clutter as boxes are offloaded on site and machinery is put into position. “We smooth out that whole operation by offloading and rigging the machinery,” Lovemore said.