Unannounced port closure angers CT port users

An unannounced two-hour closure of the container terminal at the Port of Cape Town on Thursday morning last week caused serious problems for the container truckers in the city. And, although the truckers were given warning by SMS, this was followed by another one-hour closure in the afternoon. The Cape Town Harbour Carriers’ Association (CTHCA) slammed the terminal management, telling them that the short-notice warning didn’t give enough time for the truckers to make the necessary schedule adjustments for the afternoon, and that the morning closure had cost a number of truckers business, according to association chairman, John Berry. “No trucks could enter the port between 06:00 and 08:00, and the queue of waiting trucks was well over the bridge,” he told FTW. “This is extremely disruptive to business where special arrangements – like delivery slots or special equipment – may have been made. “What is of particular concern to us is that the association met with the port just the day before for its regular monthly meeting – and not a word was said about the morning’s closure. Had we been alerted we could have at least warned our members. The port has the ability to alert transporters through an SMS system, but this was also not done. “With the peak season rapidly approaching, we hope the port will improve its communication with this association and not find it necessary to conduct internal communication in port users’ time.” But the damage to the truckers had already been done. “The port effectively took three hours out of the working day and the impact of this was huge,” Berry added. “Our members lost loads because of this – and their clients did not understand that the circumstances were beyond their control.” Peter Newton, director of Seaboard and another of the Cape Town shippers’ voices, joined in the fray. “On a number of occasions we have asked such meetings (union feedbacks and the like) be held in Cape Town Container Terminals’ (CTCT) time, and not that of port users,” he told FTW. “And the response has been silence. “An entirely unsatisfactory state of affairs.” Attempts by the CCHCA to discuss this matter with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) executive, Louis du Toit, bore little fruit – apart from an apology. “Du Toit claimed he knew nothing about it, and passed the buck to Richard van Schalkwyk who sent an e-mail to the CCHCA in which he apologised for the communications lapse and undertook to give 48-hour advance warning of future stoppages. As a result of this error, the terminal agreed to extend the free time of all containers that were not collected as a result of the terminal gate closure. He also agreed to conduct all employee meetings during offpeak times.