‘Transnet should pay more attention to landside issues’

Delays at South Africa’s ports, especially Durban, remain one of the major challenges – often resulting in higher rates being charged. According to Gerald Naidu of South African Inland Logistics (SAIL), the delays encountered at the Port of Durban force companies to relook at the way they price or charge. SAIL, a logistics company concentrating on the movement of container and break bulk traffic in southern Africa, owns its own fleet of vehicles and is able to make up for lost time due to delays, but at a price. Naidu believes Transnet should be paying more attention to the landside issues at the port to better understand how the bottlenecks crop up so that contingency plans can be put in place. “We have approached our clients to open their facilities over weekends and after hours as we believe this will play an important role in alleviating the delays that escalate down the supply chain from the port.” According to Naidu there are many opportunities to improve logistics. “We see huge benefits in having a warehouse operation to complement our cartage operation. The warehouse has given us an added advantage in managing various cargo flows more effectively.” SAIL has also acquired more trucks to cope with increased volumes and is investing heavily in IT operations. “We are continually researching the market to determine what customers need in an effort to tailor services to meet those very needs.”