New complaints have surfaced about old issues that harbour carriers in Durban claim continue to hamper the safe, efficient and feasible road freight evacuation of containers in and out of the various terminals at the port.
Primary among these is Durban Container Terminal DCT Pier 2.
On Thursday, a harbour carrier who requested anonymity explained how truck drivers routinely worked double-shift days for extended periods, often going beyond 18 hours on a single trip, to make a decent living.
If they worked prescribed working hours, port-side delays could mean returning without fetching a box.
On Friday morning, another harbour carrier, who also requested anonymity, reiterated what his competitor in the business had said: that the Navis booking system used by Transnet Port Terminals to award slots to transporters continued to throw a spanner in the works of harbour carriers.
As a result, operators are often not able to fetch a container within the grace period of three days.
And although the period is sometimes extended by 24 hours, transporters have become used to shipping lines charging demurrage for the late return of containers all because of Navis, it seems.
The demurrage fees passed onto us can vary from R15 000 to more than R100 000, said the transporter who spoke to Freight News on Friday morning.
As many before him have said in the past, operators who want to remain in business have no other recourse but to pass the demurrage charges onto their clients, who then work costs into end-user pricing.
To get a sense of harbour carriers desperation, one only has to spend some time on a WhatsApp group that has been started by transporters to assist with slot appointments and sudden availability.
The constant jockeying for slots at berth 205 at DCT Pier 2 is a clear indication of the desperation of harbour carriers to remain profitable in an environment that, at face value, appears fraught with congestion and corruption.
Several times on the WhatsApp group it has become evident that certain individuals try to sell awarded slots, only to be called out for blatantly exploiting a system that has been under fire for being flawed since its introduction in 2021.
Corrupt controllers are the biggest issue at the moment, one transporter said.
We have seen countless times how large-fleet companies overbook slots, only to try to sell them back to smaller operators on the group.
At Pier 1, slot scarcity is also evident on the group, and at Point Terminal on the other side of the harbour, safety is a serious problem in an area notorious for being a borderline no-go zone.
Then there is the quota system, whereby slots are apportioned.
We often refresh our screens to see if new slots havent become available, only to be told that the quota has been reached. But when we round up statistics and compare the number of trucks inside the port and the number of bookings that were made, it doesnt add up.
Then, when youre finally lucky enough to have the bookings office answer your call, youre often treated with contempt and told to deal with the situation because apparently theres nothing that they, the staff at the booking office, can do about it.
The transporter said they had approached TPT chief executive Earle Peters with their complaints, to no avail.
Transnet continues to say that theres nothing wrong with the booking system, but its their system that often leads to us not fetching containers in time, and receiving demurrage bills from lines who say its not their fault that boxes are delayed.
Asked why hes not willing to identify himself, the transporter said: We work in an environment of fear, and harbour carriers are concerned about the consequences of speaking out.
On Friday afternoon, Peters phoned to say that waterside improvements at DCT 2 had unfortunately filtered through to landside container movement.
Were bringing in more containers on a daily basis, about 6 000 give or take, but the gate can only handle about 4 000 at the most per day.
He said that was why it was so important to expand access points on the landside.
Increased throughput at the port has also been confirmed by weekly container movement data aggregated by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders and Business Unity SA.
As for allegations regarding the abuse of the system, Peters said: Were trying to discourage the industry from doing such things.
By 15:30 on Friday, Transnet Port Terminals TPT commented as follows:The slot booking system caters for all users, for large and small transporters.
The slots transporters book and dont use creates waste in the system and remains an issue that features as an agenda item in regular engagements where we plan together with industry.
TPT added that, many cargo owners do not work 24/7 as in the case of the terminal, often le