Truck turnaround time down to one hour

Land-side efficiency is as

important as that on the

quayside for a port to remain

competitive, which is the reason that

Beira port operator Cornelder de

Mozambique (CdM) is working with

customs and the Mozambican rail

and port authority CFM to speed up

truck movements in and out of the

harbour precinct.

All the roads inside the port are

being upgraded, and there are now

two lanes for trucks going in and out

through dedicated gates, according

to Jan Laurens de Vries, commercial

manager for the port of Beira.

The addition of a truck stop at the

entry point will also make a major

contribution.

It will provide a parking space

for vehicles where the loads have

not been pre-cleared or there are

problems with the documentation.

“This will smooth the flow and

means that the movement of trucks

will be managed better,” he says.

On the Cornelder Terminals,

CdM has already managed to

reduce the truck turnaround time

from four hours to one hour on

average.

The impact was confirmed to

FTW by a number of warehouse

operators outside the port, all of

whom are claiming new records for

discharging cargo.

Another benefit to shippers and

cargo owners is that the dwell time

for containers has been reduced

from 20 days to less than 10 days,

according to De Vries.

The focus has now turned

to rail, which will be needed to

accommodate increased volumes.

“We are going to need both

road and rail if we are to increase

volumes from 200 000 to a million

TEUs a year,” he says.