New straddles likely to address some of truckers woes

Transnet National Ports
Authority believe a truck
booking system will make
all the difference at the
Port of Durban where
congestion is leaving truck
operators exasperated.
Port authorities
are hopeful that the
non-mandatory truck
appointment system (TAS)
due to go live later this year
will bring about the much
called for change at the
country’s busiest port.
“We need a wellfunctioning
truck booking
system,” said Mzukisi
Mbanga, TNPA manager:
capacity creation during
a panel discussion at the
annual Road Freight
Association conference last
week.
“We need a system where
you book a slot and the
truck only comes to the
port when it is time for
the pick-up. The system
we currently have is not
working and we are trying
to find a solution and the
best way to implement it.”
But, said Mbanga, it was
not just Transnet at fault.
“You find the terminal can
do 150 trucks per hour. But
what happens is that the
boxes are stored for
three days for free
and the truckers
wait for the last
day to come and
pick up. Then
you have a bunch
of trucks
coming
in and
suddenly
the
port
has
to
deal with 300 trucks in
one hour. You are bound to
have congestion then.”
Admitting that
equipment breakdowns
had been a challenge and
had resulted
in some
congestion,
he said this
would soon
be a thing
of the past
as the first
of the 23
straddles on
order were
currently in
the process
of being
assembled.
The first
of these
straddles is
set to be commissioned
before the end of June.
“Transnet Port
Terminals has to address
the equipment issues,
but when it comes to the
booking system we need
the collaboration and
buy-in from the trucking
industry to ensure the
system works.”
Truck operators remain
sceptical about the planned
booking system,
especially after
a mandatory
container
appointment
system
(MCAS) was
scrapped and
replaced by the TAS.
Anthony Naicker of City
Logistics said they had
followed the MCAS system
religiously and had still
been stuck in the port for
hours, not
being able to
turn around
a truck.
Not only
was cargo not
dispatched
due to a lack
of equipment
but the
backlog in
the port was
simply too
big at times.
“So we
would
arrive at the
booking time
but the port would still be
dealing with the container
congestion of the previous
day,” he said. “Also
containers are affected
by all the other areas of
the port. A system that
just looks at one aspect of
it – in this case containers
– is unlikely to achieve
success.”
Durban port manager
Moshe Motlohi, who
attended the RFA
conference, agreed, saying
the system did not work as
it did not include all the
different port components.
“A super booking system
is what is required,”
he said, responding to
operators’ frustrated calls
for change. “If Island View
is not on a booking system
or the grain operation or
the roros then it will not
work. You cannot have
a system for containers
alone and expect it to
work.”
He said he was
hopeful that this
would be a reality
sooner rather than
later.
INSERT
The system does
not work because it
does not include all
the different port
components. A super
booking system is
what is required.
– Moshe Motlohi