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Cut terminal costs
Page 4
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The Transport and Road Research Laboratory report on terminal delays at common user ports is one of the most useful documents to emerge from TRRL in recent times. It clearly demonstrates the inefficiency of the port system for container handling.
Expressed in financial terms, the delays experienced at ports by haulage operators can account for anything up to 80 per cent of a working day. It is seldom less than 40 per cent.
Maximum-capacity outfits costing E.12.00 per hour are regularly delayed for five hours at ports. A recent CM spot check at Tilbury confirmed this. This is an expense which could be avoided by a pre-booking system such as the report proposes.
Our enquiries showed that even those vehicles arriving at the port as early as 6am could be delayed for four hours so that even the most conscientious operators and driver cannot expect preferential treatment.
Terminal delays occur at places other than common user ports. They are costly to all concerned, not least of all to the consumer. Anything which can be done to accelerate vehicle turn-round must be universally beneficial.
Pre-booking would be a big step forward, always provided there was a penalty clause in the contract if either party failed to keep the appointment.