Compound to beat Iran delays
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A ONE-ACRE vehicle compound has been set up on the outskirts of Tehran by a British company — welcome news for drivers who have to wait for up to three weeks at present before they can clear the Iranian Customs.
Set between the two Customs centres in the Iranian capital the compound is being operated by freight forwarder Davies Turner. This company hopes to beat the chaotic condi tions, save days of wasted time and cut pilferage of loads.
Queues of between 300 and 400 lorries have been building up at the Customs posts and this has made checking on their whereabouts difficult. But now incoming vehicles can drive straight •to an allocated area inside the new compound.
The truck's load is checked against records and all the documentation assembled for Customs to speed clearance and vehicle turnaround. Drivers have the use of a small hotel, a swimming pool, a restaurant and a maintenance area.
The newly appointed manon-the-spot is Mr Roger Wheeldon, who will be responsible for co-ordinating the compound's operation. He expects the compound to handle about 40 trucks per week and once the operation becomes firmly established sees this picking up to 200 vehicles a month.
"We are hoping to clear lorries in a fraction of the time it takes at the moment. We can also chase up missing vehicles, and drivers will know the night before they are due tor clearance, leaving them only a 10-minute drive to the Customs post," he said.