Truckers slam DCT control point plan

Durban port users are up in arms about a Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) plan for a control point at the entrance to the Durban container terminal (DCT) Pier 2. Also, motorists will no doubt be extremely nervous about the fatal ambush that TNPA has arranged to test them. And the fact that the TNPA did not consult with anyone before this decision was taken met with howls of complaint from port users – especially container truckers who are the prime victims of what is described as “a badly thought out scheme”. The proposed control point in Langeberg Road was presented earlier this month at a meeting with the Durban Port Committee (DPC) by the TNPA’s Logan Govender, who said: ● The TNPA are upgrading the old customs gate in Langeberg Road (close to Bayhead Road, the only access to the Durban terminals) to accommodate the control point as part of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) requirement. The control point would be manned by TNPA security – SAPS, Metro Police and the Road Freight Bargaining Council. ● Every person passing through this gate would either have to have a Transnet permit or would have to sign in as a day visitor. ● Trucks passing through this gate would need to display their company logo as the Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) demand. ● All vehicles/personnel passing through this gate would be subjected to searches, a main reason for which are the problems Transnet has in identifying stow-aways. ● Vehicles would be checked for roadworthiness, and drivers tested for alcohol consumption. The DPC immediately raised a number of complaints including the fact that Bayhead Road is already an extremely sensitive area to traffic congestion and any additional delays caused by a control point would be disastrous. Also that there is no staging area for any vehicles detained at the control point which would also cause serious congestion. The committee pointed out that there was no need for trucks to display the company logos at this point, as there were many trucks passing through the gate that did not go into the TPT operational area. Trucks going to the likes of the MSC depot, SACD, Unitainer Depot and Freightmax do not need to display company logos. The DPC members were also adamant that securing permits for everyone permanently employed within the harbour precinct (private businesses) would be a huge task – with staff rotation and a lot of temporary staff accessing the area. Also, that both Bayhead Road and Langeberg Roads would have to have separate lanes for light motor vehicles and heavy vehicles to cater for traffic both bypassing the Langeberg Road turn-off to the Bluff as well as turning towards the DCT. In a letter addressed to Selvan Pillay of the TNPA, Dave Watts, maritime adviser to the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and chairman of the DPC, said: “In June we asked for our concerns over the introduction of vehicle gate control at the entrance to Langeberg Road to be considered.” The DPC heard no more about the matter, until last week one of the committee members made a horrifying discovery. In an e-mail to Watts, the member pointed out that the TNPA had proceeded with the check-point signs and road markings. He added: “Although they have only painted the word “STOP” on the road itself - which you cannot see if you are driving behind another vehicle – the police have already started fining drivers of cars that do not stop at the road marking. There are no visible “STOP” signs displayed as yet. “When turning into Langeberg Road off Bayhead Road, the left-hand lane has been marked for “CARS ONLY” while the middle and right hand lanes have been marked for “TRUCKS ONLY”.” Talking to FTW, Watts said: “Not only does it appear the process is going ahead, but that no effort has been made to communicate with port users, particularly those most impacted by this decision – truck operators, depots, staff and other personnel needing vehicle access to the facilities in the area. “We are extremely concerned with the decision regarding a “cars only lane” to the left of the turning “trucks only lane”. We find this decision quite astounding. Clearly, passenger-carrying vehicles on the inside of left-turning trucks are at severe risk.” Kevin Martin, chairman of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association (DHCA), was equally disturbed. He told FTW: “It’s a ludicrous plan, like playing Russian roulette with only one empty chamber. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what’s going to happen when you put light vehicles inside left-turning articulated trucks. You’re putting them in the trucks’ famous ‘blindspot’, and asking car drivers to commit suicide.”