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The captain of his ship

28th May 2009, Page 18
28th May 2009
Page 18
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Page 18, 28th May 2009 — The captain of his ship
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Tilbury in Essex is home to the second largest port in the country. CM talks to managing director Perry Glading about his plans to improve truck turnaround times and drivers facilities.

FOR A RELATIVELY small town on the banks of the Thames in Essex, Tilbury is a particularly evocative word for those involved in road transport. It is the main port for London, and it handles 1 million tonnes of grain, 2.5 million tonnes of paper and 550.000 containers a year. Last year, it handled 53 million tonnes of freight, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).

With just 18% of those volumes leaving by rail, the majority of the rest is entrusted to the back of a truck. Port of Tilbury managing director Perry Glading knows that turning trucks around quickly is the key to efficient road transport in and out of the site.

"We must not let hauliers down," he tells CM, while showing us the grain tipping zones. "Otherwise, the drivers will moan.

"If we can get things right on the road side, we can get things right on the ship side. If the balance is not right and you end up with negative comments from hauliers who are under pressure to deliver on time. The last thing they need is a buckle in their supply chain,he says.

Inspiration

His background, which has given him an understanding of how a hauliers' business operates, has inspired his planning for the port.

A truck park and distribution centre, designed to ease the chronic lack of parking facilities in the area, is being developed on 65 acres of land next to the A1089 (the link road between the A13 and the port). However, it is still in the planning stages and is currently nothing more than a farmer's field and a go-kart track at the moment.

Glading says: "When I am asked about drivers' facilities, it suggests they are staving here for a while. They want to come in and go out and big facilities take up space. If they come in and turn away. they can have their break somewhere on the road; if they are going to have a break here, that means a delay."

Runaround time for containers is, on average, 30 minutes, while on the paper side, which has to handle 30,000 vehicles a year, an electronic-based entry and exit system assigning windows for driver drop-offs and pick-ups has been introduced to reduce turnaround times.

Since the port owners, Forth Ports, bought Tilbury in 1995, it has invested £150m in improving its facilities. It is an investment Glading is proud of, saying: "Hauliers have invested in their own business to raise standards and offer a high level of service.That's why we have also made significant investments.

Truck parking

But Glading acknowledges that the thorny issue of truck parking is still an issue throughout the region, despite the investments made in turning vehicles around quickly "Thurrock is a good centre for logistics; you get a lot of traffic through here. Trucks park up against the kerb and on the roadside," he says, Compounding the lack of facilities for hauliers in Essex is the Shell Haven development just up the road from Tilbury. Rival port owners DP World was granted planning permission for a new deepwater port, better known as London Gateway, and a £1.5bn plan was drawn up to build the site over the next 10 to 15 years.

Since then, not withstanding the global slump in shipping volumes that have affected all UK ports ('Sailing through choppy waters', CM 30 April), DP World plans to renegotiate the terms of the development as it originally required it to stump up cash for improvements to the M25 junction 30, where the A13 meets London's ring road, believing the Highways Agency should be responsible for a junction of such national importance.

Delays aside. is Glading worried about the prospect of a development promising container volumes equivalent to Felixstowe so close to the existing facilities at Tilbury?

"Competition is wide and varied," he answers. "When you look at ports from a UK perspective, they are very geographically based and Tilbury is all about the South-East. We have 20 million people within 100 miles, which makes us one of the key UK ports "Competition is not about ports competing with each other in the UK. People talk about Europe being a big competitor for UK ports but it is not cost effective to carry cargo to the UK only.

Anyone involved in ports or the container business will be aware of the argument that they are the true barometer of the UK's economic performance. The more paper brought from Sweden, the more containers from China and the more grain from Canada means the UK is on the up. So far, 2009 has been grim.

"UK container movements were down by about 15% or 20% in the first quarter. I would like to see a slight improvement by 2010 but you are talking about a marginal increase this year, maybe 3% or 4% from a low base. This is going to be possible towards the end of 2010 but it will be 2011 before we see any measurable increase in throughput."

Tags

People: Perry Glading
Locations: London

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