Rail jam-up in Durban raises alarm bells

The Port of Durban is getting totally jammed up with containers waiting to move up to Gauteng by rail – with dwell times of up to 14 days being reported as common. Intermodal operators and shipping lines blame this on management and operational inefficiencies at both Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) – with complaints being voiced of right hands not knowing what left hands are doing. It’s a problem that has been building up in recent weeks, and as we now move into the Christmas holiday period, there are fears that the system is going to pack up. So bad has it become that it has been addressed with Transnet at high levels, FTW was told. This was first brought to the attention of FTW by Ron Frick, MD of DAL Agency, who summarised it as a worrying problem for his line, and one that only seemed to be getting worse. Frick was also disturbed by the fact that, although excuses were many and ranged from wind delays at the port to a train derailment, no-one had come up with any solutions to an ongoing problem. Kerwin Naidoo of Cargo Movers Kazerne Container Depot (CMKCD) told FTW that, as intermodal movers of containers, his company was being hit with all sorts of delays, and was facing a big backlog of containers at the port. “It’s a combined problem,” he added, “with TFR trains just sitting at the marshalling yards because of operational inefficiencies, and slow productivity and bad weather delays at the terminals adding to the problem.” This has led to an average dwell-time of 7-14 days in Durban, according to Naidoo. It’s an industry problem, according to Jan Nair, CEO of Grindrod Intermodal, and has led to Transnet senior management being pushed for answers. “It’s a combination of things in my opinion – a knock-on effect of the strike, bad weather and wind effects and so on,” he told FTW. “And it’s also a combined port and rail problem.” But Nair put us on to the company’s operations executive, Dan Govender, for a more day-to-day hands-on viewpoint. And Govender pointed to lack of communication from the Transnet subsidiaries involved to Grindrod Intermodal. “It’s been something that has been building up for some weeks now,” he said. “Trains being loaded, but then just sitting there – and no consistency in the reasons why. “We’re told this, and told that – and all these different stories are thrown at us. So what can we tell our customers?” Govender then expressed the fear that the Christmas holiday slow-down could lead to a complete shutdown of rail movement of containers out of the Port of Durban. It has got so worrying, he added, that Grindrod Intermodal is now being inundated with a flood of requests to switch boxes from rail to road. “It’s a problem that hasn’t been easing up, and can only get worse,” said Govender. CAPTION The Port of Durban in quieter times ... 14-day dwell times being reported.