In November this year Durbanbased
General Shipping
Services (GSS) will come of age
servicing the container age of
logistics in South Africa as one
of the smaller operators in a very
competitive environment – and
they are positive about the future.
“The market remains tough
but we have sharpened our
pencils and picked up new
business which has made the past
year better than the previous two
years,” says founding director
Paul Scannell.
“We survive despite difficulties
due to service levels. If you give
the service, and inform clients
of their cargo movements, you’ve
done 90% of what is expected.
The 10% is the delivery itself,
which is the minimum contracted
expectation,” explains Scannell
The company offers a complete
logistics package, with its main
business being all kinds of
container transport.
It operates a combination of its
own trucks and trailers combined
with a 100% dedicated small pool
of owner drivers who use GSS
trailers.
Scannell says the business has
been aided by the technological
developments designed to make
tracking and EDI much simpler.
One of the biggest challenges it
faces is the serious delays around
port access and egress due to port
landside operational problems
which impact on operations
and service levels. The Durban
terminals are striving to turn
trucks around within 90 minutes
on average and never longer than
six hours per visit, but there is
still a long way to go and progress
towards these levels is extremely
slow. Hence the important focus
on client updates about container
movements.
