‘Sapo stats don’t tell the whole story’

Alan Peat WHILE THERE are very good-looking statistics from SA Port Operations (Sapo) about vehicle turnaround at the Port of Durban’s container terminal (DCT), they don’t tell the whole story, according to Clifford Blackburn, MD of container road hauliers, International Delivery Company (IDC). “It may be true that turnaround once the vehicle gets into the terminal area is about 20 minutes, as Sapo suggests,” he told FTW. “But they don’t mention that hauliers are often kept waiting at the gate for a matter of hours, not minutes.” And this wait is wasted downtime, Blackburn added, which all just adds to the unnecessary costs inflicted on shippers and importers by poor productivity at the country’s major port. Paul Rayner, MD of DTB cartage, and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), agreed. “What he says is true. Delays at the gates at peak hours can be anything from an hour to an hour-and-a-half.” However, although hauliers would like to see an end to all the delays, Rayner feels that he’s in favour of what Sapo is doing, given the current situation. “If they let in all the containers that are waiting, we’d just get gridlock inside the terminal. It’s better that the delays are outside, rather than a disastrous lock-up inside the terminal.”