New look Transnet appears to be listening

A CHANGE in name seems to have led to a change in attitude, according to Lawrie Bateman, MD of MSC Logistics. “With the port operator now trading under the new brand name of Transnet Port Terminals (TPT),” he said, “it has appeared to have had a change in attitude.” Since July 2004 port users have been advocating a change in “the head in the sand” situation. This where SA Port Operations (Sapo) as it was then, took the stance that what happened outside the Durban container terminal (DCT) gates was not their concern. “They were also producing great in-gate-out performance statistics of 30-minutes to show there was no delay inside the DCT,” Bateman told FTW. “But this ignored the fact that, outside, it was taking trucks three-to-five hours to enter the terminal.” But now it seems that TPT has decided to listen to users’ complaints, and Bateman said that he applauded the decision to involve all the parties concerned – including the Durban Chamber of Commerce, the Harbour Carriers’ Association division of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), the independent depot operators, and the like. “The Port of Durban is a 24-hour, 7-days a week operation,” he added, “and therefore the mind-set of an 8-to-5 day, 5-days a week, must change.” A similar system to the “Pier Pass” which is operating in the Los Angeles Port is being considered by TPT - basically where a surcharge is raised during peak hours. “That is all very well” said Bateman, “but we believe that the surcharge should be offset by an incentive for after-hour traffic to offset additional costs incurred by the various parties concerned.”