Ro-ro terminal boycott avoided thanks to TPT listening to port users

A proposed boycott of the ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) terminal at the Port of Durban has been avoided thanks to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) listening to port users and implementing a measure recommended by the users to overcome a crippling problem at the terminal, according to Carl Webb, MD of Project Logistics Management (PLM) and representative of the terminal users (see page 1). The ro-ro terminal is the landing berth for project cargo and large equipment like road graders and outsize bulldozers, and in recent months has been failing to meet the transport schedules laid down for the uplift of these cargoes. So bad did it become that road transporters, many of them allocating abnormal vehicles to meet the transport needs, began to pull their vehicles out of the terminal, rather than waiting for some activity from TPT. And this despite a booking system that named a strict date and time for each uplift. Barry Wilson, projects specialist at Bidvest Panalpina, told FTW about information fed to his company by Reyaya (Hitachi’s nominated transporter), which highlighted the trucker’s problems with these delays in loading project cargo from the terminal at the Point. “Quite obviously,” he said, “there are some serious issues in the planning and loading of project cargoes ex Point terminal which need urgent attention. Whilst we appreciate that the terminal is congested, when transporters are making the effort to try to uplift cargo, the terminal appears unable to meet the requirements of transporters.” E-mails forwarded to FTW from both Reyaya and PLM said that users were finding it increasingly difficult to secure transporters who were willing to provide trucks for loading ex Point due to the excessive delays they were encountering. PLM’s Webb added: “We have attempted to address the issue on numerous occasions, providing a number of proposals which would assist TPT in complying with their mandate, but to no avail. “We have now requested an urgent plan of remedial action by TPT to rectify the situation, failing which we will have no option but to escalate the matter further. A number of options have been proposed in this regard, one of which is a boycott of the MPT facility until such time as the matter is resolved.” However, Shamina Krishnaswamy, key account manager of the Durban ro-ro terminal, at least brought some light to the issue on behalf of TPT. “With the terminal operations and planning department, alternatives are presently been explored internally in terms of the suggested changes for implementation,” she said – also promising that TPT’s decision would be announced at the meeting with the Transporters Forum members last Thursday (February 9). And so it was, with TPT accepting the port users’ recommendation that an open booking system would be adopted. “At long last,” Webb told FTW after the meeting with TPT, “we had very positive communication with them. They are even beginning to recognise that the shipping lines are not their clients, but that it is the cargo owner who pays for everything – the shipping rates, the harbour charges, the agents’ fees, the customs duty, and the landside transport costs.”