Power cuts hamper efficiency

An upturn in business confidence has seen
growing volumes of full truckloads moving
into Africa – and growing volumes translate
into increased border congestion.
“Importers are moving away from smaller
shipments,” says Kingfisher Freight MD
Alwyn Nel. “During the recession the
opposite was evident with a trend to smaller
shipments on a just in time basis – and as a
consequence we developed our roadfreight
express service.
“Now people are buying larger quantities
to secure discounts and the result is more
congestion and more queues at all the borders
we use – Beitbridge/Musina, Komatipoort
and Groblersbrug.”
With Customs having gone EDI,
presentation of entries is far slicker. “But
you still have to take the documents with the
passports and gate passes to Customs and
stand in the queue. And you can’t move to
the next border if there’s no space for those
vehicles that are stuck in the queue,” says Nel.
Frequent power cuts have also had a major
impact.
“When the systems come on line, goods
are released out of sequence which creates
further chaos.
“Add to that the volume of passenger
traffic crossing the border and you have a
boiling pot of horrendous proportions.”
And regardless of the interventions put in
place to mitigate delays, there will always
be circumstances beyond the control of the
transport operator.
“We ensure that all the paperwork is
accurate, that trucks have permits and
everything is loaded – but when it goes into
the system it becomes part of the system, no
matter how efficient you are.”
Despite the border post problems, for the
year ahead Nel is upbeat.
“As business develops we will be
increasing staff and strengthening
relationships with our offices in neighbouring
countries.”