New complaints have surfaced regarding longstanding issues that harbour carriers in Durban claim continue to hamper the safe, efficient and viable road freight retrieval of containers at the port’s various terminals.
Primary among these is Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.
On Thursday, a harbour carrier who requested anonymity explained how truck drivers routinely worked double-shift days for extended periods, often going beyond 18 hours on a single trip, to make a decent living.
If they worked prescribed working hours, port-side delays could mean returning without fetching a box.
On Friday morning, another harbour carrier, who also requested anonymity, reiterated what his competitor in the business had said: that the Navis booking system used by Transnet Port Terminals to award slots to transporters continued to throw a spanner in the works of harbour carriers.
As a result, operators are often not able to fetch a container within the grace period of three days.
And although the period is sometimes extended by 24 hours, transporters have become used to shipping lines charging demurrage for the late return of containers – all because of Navis, it seems.
“The demurrage fees passed onto us can vary from R15 000 to more than R100 000,” said the transporter who spoke to Freight News on Friday morning.
As many before him have said in the past, operators who want to remain in business have no other recourse but to pass the demurrage charges onto their clients, who then work costs into end-user pricing.
To get a sense of harbour carriers’ desperation, one only has to spend some time on a WhatsApp group that has been started by transporters to assist with available slots.
The constant jockeying for slots at berth 205 at DCT Pier 2 is a clear indication of the frustration of harbour carriers to remain profitable in an environment that, at face value, appears fraught with congestion and corruption.
Several times on the WhatsApp group it has become evident that certain individuals try to sell awarded slots, only to be called out for blatantly exploiting a system that has been under fire for being flawed since its introduction in 2021.
“Corrupt controllers are the biggest issue at the moment,” one transporter said.
“We have seen countless times how large-fleet companies overbook slots, only to try to sell them back to smaller operators on the group.”
At Pier 1, slot scarcity is also evident on the group, and at Point Terminal on the other side of the harbour, safety is a serious problem in an area notorious for being a borderline no-go zone.
Then there is the quota system, whereby slots are apportioned.
“We often refresh our screens to see if new slots haven’t become available, only to be told that the quota has been reached. But when we round up statistics and compare the number of trucks inside the port and the number of bookings that were made, it doesn’t add up.
“Then, when you’re finally lucky enough to have the bookings office answer your call, you’re often treated with contempt and told to deal with the situation because apparently there’s nothing that they, the staff at the booking office, can do about it.”
The transporter said they had approached TPT chief executive Earle Peters with their complaints, to no avail.
“Transnet continues to say that there’s nothing wrong with the booking system, but it’s their system that often leads to us not fetching containers in time, and receiving demurrage bills from lines who say it’s not their fault that boxes are delayed.”
Asked why he’s not willing to identify himself, the transporter said: “We work in an environment of fear, and harbour carriers are concerned about the consequences of speaking out.”
On Friday afternoon, Peters phoned to say that waterside improvements at DCT 2 had unfortunately filtered through to landside container movement.
“We’re bringing in more containers on a daily basis, about 6 000 give or take, but the gate can only handle about 4 000 at the most per day.”
He said that was why it was so important to expand access points on the landside.
Increased throughput at the port has also been confirmed by weekly container movement data aggregated by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders and Business Unity SA.
As for allegations regarding the abuse of the system, Peters said: “We’re trying to discourage the industry from doing such things.”
- At 3.30 on Friday afternoon, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) commented as follows:
“The slot booking system caters for all users, large and small transporters.
“The slots transporters book and don’t use create waste in the system and this remains an issue that features as an agenda item in regular engagements where we plan together with industry.”
TPT added that many cargo owners did not work 24/7 as the terminal does, often leading to 60-hour advance slot bookings that are available and not optimised by cargo owners and transporters.
“The current quota system affords industry adequate slots during the free import storage days for each vessel. Durban Container Terminals also offer industry extensions on both import and export units.”
Regarding the accusation that the system is being abused by unscrupulous controllers selling overbooked appointments back to transporters seeking slots, TPT said: “Durban Container Terminals feels that Freight News should consult industry on this allegation.”
Lastly, TPT commented: "Our terminal booking office operates 24 hours over seven days of the week and calls are being attended to on helpdesk number(s): 031 361 6771 / 031 361 6696 or truck appointment supervisor on: 031 361 6451.
“We have also created a WhatsApp platform for engagements on the following WhatsApp platforms: Cartage Update – Pier 1, Pier 2 and DRT, Pier 1 Notifications, TPT Notifications (Pier 2), Durban Container Notifications (Pier 1 & Pier 2), and for reefer season only we have Durban Citrus Reefers – Ops & Planning, whereby all industry participants are present on the reefer WhatsApp group. There are standing and regular operational meetings with the four transporter association representatives (PFS, CIL, Saaff, Harbour Carriers and RFA) where all operational and planning issues and matters are discussed with the objective of improving the overall experience of calling at the terminal and for planning purposes."
TPT repeated what Peters said, that the current situation was partly due to waterside improvements.
“Durban Container Terminals have been making good progress on plans aimed at increasing productivity, having been without vessel backlogs and delays for some time now.”
