Turn-in rule sparks lively debate

The contentious issue of turning in empty containers direct to the port container terminals stacks provoked fiery debate last week at a meeting of Maersk Line management led by MD David Williams, and the truckers and other complainant parties, led by Durban Harbour Carriers Association (DHCA) chairman, Kevin Martin. An ultimatum was laid down by the complainants, said Martin, that Maersk/ Safmarine, which had demanded the direct turn-in, should revert to the agreement reached in 2010 – when this issue was first raised by the lines – that truckers and their clients (the importers) would have the choice of where to drop off the empty containers. But no agreement was reached, and Maersk Line told the complainants that it would put its thoughts into writing and send this reply to Martin. He, in turn, demanded that this be completed before Monday, August 6, at 10:00, because he had a meeting that same morning with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), and he wanted to push them to make a regulatory finding on the issue. This because there were other complications, such as the importers effectively being turned into exporters, and accepting liability for the boxes being clean, empty and undamaged, and free of stowaways, illegal drugs, armaments and the like – exclusively the responsibility of the lines. When FTW questioned Maersk on this issue, Craig Maulson, Southern Africa cluster operations manager for the AP Moller-Maersk Group said: “We will be responding formally on a number of the issues raised within the meeting by Mr. Martin as none are obstacles that will hinder achieving the overall objective. “During the 2010 discussions the definition of freedom of choice was different to that of Friday’s discussion. The meeting held provided further clarification on this definition and the crux of the matter is the queuing time in Durban terminal. In terms of this a practical resolution will be put in place and we will work with specific customers and their hauliers that see benefit in simplifying the logistics supply chain.” CAPTION: Truckers and their clients want a choice of where to drop off empty containers.