Transporters have voiced their concern about plans to make the Durban port’s truck booking system mandatory for all arrivals in the short to medium term – although they concede that it is helping to alleviate congestion. Transnet Port Terminals CEO Nozipho Sithole told FTW on the sidelines of the Transport Forum in the city last week that the end goal of implementing the currently voluntary system was to make the truck booking system compulsory by April 2019.
“The system is working and the target is that 80% (of truck arrivals) will be using the system – although at the moment we are only at 45% utilisation. When all the gremlins have been resolved we are going onto a compulsory system,” Sithole said.
The system was also currently still voluntary because there was a need for shipping lines to streamline the pre-clearing of containers by SA Revenue Service (Sars) to prevent any collection delays, she added.
“We are currently having discussions with the shipping lines and Sars to make that more streamlined and faster. Then we can go into a compulsory system where can have a reward and penalty system, so if you book more slots than required we can then discourage that type of behaviour.“
Sithole said Transnet was also in discussions with the SA Association of Ship Operators and Agents regarding extending the trading hours of container depots that were not currently operating 24/7, an issue transporters have repeatedly raised over the years in a bid to improve truck flows through the port. Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association chairperson Sue Moodley said the truck booking system was not yet ready to move towards becoming a compulsory requirement for truckers.
“I don’t think they could meet the timeline because there is a lot of work that still needs to go into the system. It is not working the way it should and we do need to go back to basics to see what went wrong and why it went wrong,” Moodley said. “We can’t commit to a compulsory system until the system works. As a transporter who owns trucks I am seeing the unbooked trucks moving quicker sometimes than if they are booked.”
She said the system needed to be tested further and transporters were engaging with Transnet. She was scheduled to meet with Transnet to discuss the establishment of a working committee to deal with the challenges facing the truck booking system this week, she added.
Quote: A meeting has been scheduled with Transnet to discuss the establishment of a working committee to deal with the challenges facing the system. – Sue Moodley
