cooking system falls short at Felixstowe
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The booking system at the UK's largest container port was meant to smoothe the flow of truck traffic, but three years on operators are still frustrated.
Words: Roanna Avison IT'S BEEN MORE than three years since the Port of Felixstowe introduced a vehicle booking system (VBS) to control the number of trucks entering the port at peak times.
And despite a gradual introduction, the system, which makes hauliers book slots at the port for container deliveries and collections (see box), is still not popular with those who have to use it.
The idea is that operators pre-book their containers for collection/delivery within certain allocated time slots. However, container hauliers and shunters using the port have told CM how frustrated they are with the system and that complaints to the port fall on deaf ears.
Of those that spoke to CM only one could find a positive with the system: "It does alleviate all the little problems you can have, like the VBS slot running out before the container you're collecting actually arrives at the port, but there are a lot more frustrations to counter that positive."
Those frustrations, according to the haulier, who did not wish to be named, are with the operational side of the system. "We are allocated a quota of slots within VBS that we are allowed to claim between midday and 5pm each day. But rather than just letting us use those slots,
we have to go onto the system at 10am each day to try to get as many slots as we can. However, the system is so slow and overloaded that we're lucky if we get a third of our quota.
Sometimes he doesn't manage to get any bookings because "the world and his wife" are trying to get a VBS slot.
This means the hauliers, who want to be focused on tipping and collecting in the afternoons, instead have to spend time on the system of trying to get cancelled slots to ensure they can do the work they need to.
We have asked why we can't just have our allocated slots, but the port just doesn't seem interested,he says.
One firm says VBS is a real struggle for smaller operators. "Nobody likes using it because it creates more work and has not improved the situation at all. It wouldn't be so had if we could actually get the slots we've been allocated, but it just doesn't happen because the system can't handle the number of people using it at peak times."
Another haulier describes the VBS as an aggravation: "The trucks don't get turned around any quicker and we never get the slots when we want them."
Like others, he has his staff ready to try to claim their slots at 10am."I have an alarm clock that goes off in the office at 10am and everyone in the office has to jump into the system to try to grab slots.
"All it does is create extra work and costs us more money; and when I've complained to the port about the system, we've been told to utilise our vehicles better."
Struggling to cope Smaller operators also believe the larger container hauliers are allocated about half of the available slots, which puts extra pressure on the spaces left.
Even when the hauliers do have a slot, the pressure on the port is such that they cannot always get into the site on time.
One company says there have been occasions when drivers have had to wait two or three hours outside the port, because the infrastructure in the port itself has struggled to cope with the number of trucks trying to use the facility. "This has meant our driver has been unable to get into the port to get to the point where he can tell someone he's there and so we've missed our VHS slot."
The problems at the port are not just limited to smaller hauliers. Even big players such as Wincanton struggle to get the slots they require through VBS.
Ian Wilson, MD for containers at Wincanton, which carries between 600 and 700 containers on and off the port each day, says VHS is not very helpful. "It has not delivered scalable improvements in services in our experience," he says.
"What it has done is significantly increase the administrative burden for Our business and divert technical skill away from running the business."
Wilson says there are still the same problems with customer requirements causing peaks in terms of demand and the system has just made it more difficult to get into the port at those peak times.
"Like the smaller hauliers, we have everyone we can with their finger poised on the button to get slots between 2pni and 4pm," he adds.
Wilson adds there should be more slot availability. "It's important for Felixstowe to match the resources with demand, particularly as the economy recovers."
He also suggests that the bigger hauliers should work with the port to improve the turnaround time for their vehicles, which would in turn free up resources for the smaller operators.
Despite these concerns from hauliers, Paul Davey, head of corporate affairs for the Port of Felixstowe_ believes VBS has improved the situation during peak times, therefore reducing delays "We have not reduced the number of hauliers we can handle in peak periods. There are still 210 slots per hour, it's just that hauliers know when they have a slot available and so there are fewer queues."
He adds the exchange system also gives hauliers every opportunity to get the slots they need and ensure there are no unused slots The system will work at the same speed for everyone, he says. "We have a technical team working to improve VBS all the time and they increased the bandwidth of the site a couple of weeks ago to improve the speed of the system at peak times" The port accepts there will always be hauliers who cannot get the slots they want, hut Davey says this as an "inevitable consequence" of VBS. "The reason we introduced VBS was there were more people turning up than we could handle at peak times"
While it seems that the Port of Felixstowe is listening to the concerns of its users, it appears it will take more than a little extra bandwidth to resolve hauliers' concerns. • Triv FOR THE LATEST NEWS visin www.roadtransusrt.corn