Truckers and DCT devise plug point plan

Big increase promised by February/March ALAN PEAT A PARTIAL solution has been devised to overcome a shortage of refrigerated (reefer) container plug points at the Durban Container Terminal, a situation which saw reefer container trucks frequently turned away from the terminal in the past deciduous and citrus fruit season. It follows extensive discussion between the Durban harbour carriers’ section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and the DCT, with a channel of communication having now been set up between the truckers’ body, the DCT and the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) for the next reefer season which kicks off again in July. When the terminal notes a forthcoming shortage of points, said Malcolm Sodalay, head of Sammar Investments road transport operation and chairman of the carriers’ body, it will immediately inform the PPECB – “the heart of reefer control which can instruct the packing depots to stop packing”. Also, by about February/March, the DCT has promised to increase the number of plug-points to about 1 200. But Sodalay is suspicious that this might still not be enough to satisfy market demand at the height of the fruit export season – and this, and the communication channel, are only likely to be a part-solution to the problem. According to Kevin Martin of Freightliner, and vice-chairman of the harbour carriers, in the past the DCT “only had one contingency plan when they ran out of plug points for reefers – they shut the gates”. These unwanted reefers had to search out available space at one of the port’s private container terminals, and lodge the container there until they could gain access to the DCT – often as long as 48-hours later. While the trucker got compensated for these costs by his clients, it was still a very unsatisfactory solution, Martin added – pointing out that it meant a whole rescheduling of vehicles over the delay period, until the transport contractor could fulfil his contract of delivering the reefer(s) direct to the DCT. Sodalay believes the shortage of plug points is all part of an overall problem about container numbers at the DCT. “The total volume of containers went up by 15% in the last year, but Sapo only budgeted for an 8% increase.” And there’s no instant solution, he added, because the DCT only has a limited number of ground slots. Any attempt to overcome it would require Sapo to get imports out of the terminal quicker, and for shipping lines to be accurate in their forecasting of their loading/off-loading needs. “As long as we have ships cutting-and-running without uplifting all their container loads, we’re always going to have extra export containers blocking up the whole flow,” Sodalay said. But at least the port authorities are now listening to complaints, he added, and an answer might eventually be found.