Sweltering South Coast weather, lack of facilities, zero transparency and a two-kilometre-long queue of trucks hardly sets the scene for efficient throughput at Africa’s busiest port. During a recent investigation into land-side hold-ups at Durban harbour, as FTW was making its way down Bayhead Road, we were greeted by a queue of trucks, as far as the eye could see, waiting to drop off various raw minerals at Pier 2 terminal or “New Pier”. Most of the trucks caught in the congestion were carrying chrome from Rustenburg, a 12-hour journey, more than 700kms away from the terminal. However, it is not until they reach the harbour that the real issues start to surface. After completing the arduous trip to reach the port, FTW found that truck drivers spent a further 12 hours – at least – waiting outside the terminal. Some drivers said they had been waiting for over 24 hours. The drop-off process, particularly for chrome and other metals, is time consuming, but none of the truck drivers could come to grips with why it was taking so long. On top of that, there were no ablution or cooking facilities in sight, leaving the drivers stranded as they waited to drop off their loads, stuck in their cabins in blazing sun. And when you factor in additional headaches such as crime, which has plagued the surrounding areas of the harbour for years, it adds to the truckers’ plight as they find themselves trapped inside their trucks, afraid to leave in case their cargo is stolen. Together with sporadic incidents of truck burning, particularly on the N3, and the long hours that await some drivers at Durban harbour, these are just some of the challenges they experience on a weekly basis. Unless you are involved in the road freight industry as they are, most people would not understand the dire situation in which truckers find themselves on South African roads.