TPT’s poor landside performance squeezes DTB out of business

Durban’s oldest port cartage
company has decided to shut
shop, battered into submission
by years of inefficient
performance by Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT), according to
Paul Rayner, MD and owner
of the 109-year-old family
company, DTB Cartage.
This was a company that
originally started operations
hauling cargoes out of the Port
of Durban by horse and cart
soon after the turn of the 20th
century – and developed over
the years into one of the city’s
major short-haul container
transporters.
But recent times have seen
serious cut-backs forced on the
company. “At our peak about
five years ago we employed
111 people,” Rayner told
FTW. “But, due to economic
conditions, this has reduced
to 75 currently, many of
whom, mainly in the unskilled
general worker category, will
now be unemployed.”
While there are several
contributory factors to the
decision to close, Rayner
noted that “the overwhelming
reason” has been the poor
performance of the landside
operation of the various
terminals in the Port of
Durban over the past several
years.
“We continually have to
cope with port issues such as:
industrial action; computer or
systems failures; insufficient
straddle carriers; and bad
planning resulting in lengthy
queues at one tower and no
vehicles at others,” he added.
“Port management seems to
be incompetent or unwilling
to deal with these issues and
in any event does not view
transport operators as their
clients. And, while they are
prepared to meet with us,
one gets the feeling that they
are merely going through the
motions to get an unwelcome
irritation off their backs.”
Rayner also stressed
that, if the Port of Durban
operated in a truly commercial
environment where port
users had a choice of service
providers, “then TPT would
have no customers”.
Having had to make a
decision about the future of
doing business in the Port of
Durban and ploughing capital
expenditure into unproductive
vehicles, he added it had been
decided that “it would not be a
prudent investment”.
DTB Cartage has, therefore,
decided to sell its vehicles and
close down its operation.
The fleet has been
purchased by another oldtimer
in the Durban road
transport industry, the
50-year-old Gantrans group of
companies.
It will be absorbing the
DTB fleet of trucks and
trailers into its own business.
And this sizeable expansion
of its shipping section – which
offers the same port container
delivery/collection service
offered by DTB – will allow
it to offer a standard service
to its overflow of customers
looking for this product.
“One without all the bells
and whistles that our major
clients demand,” said Gantrans
director Kooven Naidu.
“We’ll grow this division,
serving DTB’s existing
clientele, and our own
established client base – and
the expanded fleet will give
us the potential to take on new
customers.”