World Cup fails to disrupt freight transport

While some shippers have encountered disruptions during the current World Cup activities, a surprising number of firms contacted by FTW reported normal operations and even better than usual business during the nationwide games extravaganza, belying earlier warnings of street gridlock and other traffic nightmares. “Our position at Macs is if they can get the cargo to port, we’ll ship it. We’ve not encountered problems during the Cup. In fact, it’s been smooth, and everything has been handled very professionally. The (Transnet) strike was a problem, but not the World Cup, we find,” said Sylvia Johnston, logistics manager at Maritime Carrier Shipping (Macs) in Cape Town. In order to avoid any problems, Safmarine advised its clients using the Cape Town and Durban ports “to avoid moving cargo on match days or within six hours of kick off time,” while Jo’burg customers were advised to consider cargo transport only during “off peak” times. A customer contacting another major shipping line might consider it a disruption that they cannot conduct business after three in the afternoon.When this reporter phoned an hour before Portugal pulverised North Korea, the message was: “We’re closed because of the games.” One of the two main transporters to Fifa stadium venues has nothing but praise for what he describes as the professionalism on display at stadium operations. “We deliver during the day to all the stadiums – Nelspruit, Soccer City, Pietermaritzburg, Bloemfontein and the rest – two to four hours before the games, and there are no problems, no delays,” reported Mark Scott of NGL Logistics. “It is run very, very well at the stadiums, as long as everything is arranged before. It’s all done by e-mail. Before the truck leaves we send the driver’s ID and vehicle ID and delivery information so it is there at the check points at arrival. Of course, our vehicles are all unbranded, which is a Fifa requirement,” said Scott, whose trucks bear such celebratory miscellany as gift baskets, blankets and an array of promotional material used by advertisers. For now, it’s all incoming, but come July delivery trucks will start hauling goods out of stadiums. “Even during the games themselves we start running things out, and after the games when they take everything down we return to take out whatever is left,” Scott said.