DO NOT redirect containers being delivered to your premises without a sound reason for it.
That's the word from Goodwill Buthelezi of Cross Country Containers (CCC) who has found just too many recipients of containers flippantly telling his drivers: Just take it round the corner to our other yard. They'll handle it. CCC used to oblige. But a strict warning from Spoornet CX and Customs has put a stop to that favour.
Redirecting containers from the address documented in the shipping instructions to another is illegal, as far as the CX/Customs regulations are concerned. And, if you want a re-direction done, the container will have to go back to the delivery company's yard while the relevant shipping line is asked to issue amended instructions. The line will be liable for the extra documentation and cartage charges involved and will have to recover this from the shipper/receiver of the goods.
And nobody's happy about all this extra palaver, according to Piet Retief of Saftainer. Not us and not the shipping lines, he said. It means dead-leg trips for us, and messes up vehicle productivity. And, it could be a problem for the shipping line if a late fee has to be charged to the original receiver who, by the time the container arrives at his premises, will have paid his freight anyway. Saftainer has also redirected containers without question although seldom in the past. But not now, said Retief. It's illegal. And CX lays down the law and it must be obeyed.
