Unprecedented Sorting at Docks
Page 39
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
SOR TING of cargo at the quayside is 7 one of the major causes of congestion at the docks; the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom sfated in its annual report, published this month. It was one of the basic problems lying at the root of the matter which would have to be tack led.
The Chamber said there was a tendency by•some importers to leave their goods at the docks too long and to require sorting and delivery from the dockside direct to consumers. Cargo was now being sorted on an " unpreeented" scale.Excessive quayside sorting placed ports inthis country at a " serious disadvantage " in comparison with their Continental-corn
petitors, such as Rotterdam, where sorting was done by the importer outside the area.
But in the long term the most important factor was expansion of the major United Kingdom ports. For the past 20 years expansion had lagged behind the requirements of trade. In consequence, today the capacity and character of the ports were inadequate for the needs of the trade of the second half of the 20th centur y.
In its report the Chamber adds that it must be decided what port capacity the country required and the lessons of the past pointed to the need for capacity being provided in advance of demand,