Truck movement study still under way ALAN PEAT PLANS BY the National Ports Authority (NPA) for a series of truck stops outside the Durban port area, and acting as staging posts for hauliers collecting import cargo, have been delayed. The reason, according to GM landlord services, Thulani Ngcobo, is that the authority is awaiting the results of a truck movement study in the port area and the main routes in the province commissioned from an outside consultancy. This information, he told FTW, was necessary so that the plans fitted the market needs. However, preliminary steps have already taken place. “Our planning section has already identified one site in the Bayhead Road area of the port,” he said, “and is also planning the infrastructure.” Once the study is submitted, the information will be used to decide on the locations for the proposed chain of “Truck Stop Inns” – with Marianhill and the Mooi River Toll Plaza initially suggested as other possible sites. Each of the inns is to be fitted with information technology (IT) systems, allowing hauliers to establish the status of the cargo they are collecting before proceeding to the port. Following finalisation of the scheme, the NPA will then ask for proposals of interest from the private sector. This should go ahead within about two months, Ngcobo added.
