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Drivers cite long waits at Southampton
Page 14
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Drivers say claimed improvements at Southampton have not materialised. Sally Nash reports.
DRIVERS ARE furious about claims by directors at Southampton Container Terminal (SCT) that turnaround times have been cut, claiming they are still waiting over five hours.
scr had promised turnarounds of 25 minutes (CM 14 October) but drivers insist managers are not taking the time spent queuing into account.
Owner-driver Bob Harris says waiting times are horrendous: "Some of the guys are sitting there for six or seven hours. As for me I went in at 3.45pm one afternoon and didn't come out until 9.20pm — that's around live-and-a-half hours."
He warns that the situation at the terminal is fraught: "How it hasn't come to fisticuffs down there I don't know."
Martin Krypner. another owner-driver, is considering pulling out of container haulage altogether because of the continuing delays. He also had to wait fiveand-a-half hours recently: "My heart sinks when I hear I have to go down there. Sometimes the queue out of the terminal to get to the vehicle booking system is two miles long." John Fordon, who drives for a Hull-based firm that does work out of Southampton, is also fed up with the situation:"It's an absolute shambles there but I don't understand why they can't predict the extra volumes at this time of year and put on extra manpower to accommodate them."
CM has also been contacted by other drivers who have waited up to 25 hours over a five-day period.
Derek Smith, business development director at SCT, refused to talk to CM, claiming his previous comments had been misrepresented.