Frequent readers of Freight News probably get a little tired of always reading about truck drivers sitting in queues, waiting for the Rip van Winkles officiating at the various points of entry to sloth into action.
Whether it’s Beitbridge, the Maputo Corridor crossing of Lebombo-Ressano Garcia, or the Skilpadshek-Pioneer Gate border on the Trans-Kalahari Corridor – if there’s to be a wait, expect it at one of these all-important trade transits.
Even the easy-to-pass-through border post of Nakop-Ariamsvlei has slipped from sleepy into comatose on occasion, with truckers finding themselves deserted by efficiency as they queue for kilometres across the arid plans of the Northern Cape.
So frequent are these hold-ups, usually because of public sector bumbling, that one may as well launch a new news site called the Backlog Bulletin.
But who would want to read that?
Mind you, it’s not a case of want to, but have to.
In ongoing efforts to consistently highlight the plight of drivers forced to while away time, often stretching into days (as in the case of Beitbridge), the Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist) this morning posted a video of trucks stuck in another queue – Bayhead Road.
It’s not the first time that Freight News has seen trucks idling on this important feeder road into the Port of Durban’s pier precinct.
To say they’re idling is to be kind, actually, as that queue on a bad day goes nowhere, you may as well turn the ignition to “off.”
The queue this morning, as has happened so often in the past, once again stretches for kilometres.
Although it’s not clear what’s behind the build-up, the queue serves as a reminder that there’s a decongestion task team that’s supposed to unblock the Bluff (Read this for context: https://tinyurl.com/36k87kkx).
Or is there still?
WATCH: The video about the truck queue outside the Port of Durban sent by Transist this morning.
