Pier one traffic flow returns to normal

The traffic flow at the Pier 1 container terminal in the Port of Durban – which two weeks ago was locked up solid, with queues of trucks backed kilometres up the Bayhead Road access, and containers taking up to 10 hours for one uplift or delivery – has now returned to normal. Examining his records of traffic flow for last week, Kevin Martin, MD of Freightliner Transport and vice-chairman of the Durban harbour carriers’ association (DHCA) division of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), told FTW that it was business as usual for most of last week. “We only had one small glitch at Pier 1,” he said, “and that was sorted out very quickly.” This has followed a period of discontent amongst the truckers, who felt that both Pier 1 and the Durban container terminal (DCT) were not performing up-to-speed – and, in tight economic times, this was carving already slim truckers’ margins to the bone.