Asian Terminals, Inc (ATI), operator of the South Harbor terminal in Manila, is looking to put in place measures to address long truck queues and the resulting traffic to and from the facility.
In a recent meeting between ATI, the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) and the Association of International Shipping Lines, ATI revealed it is planning to designate an additional truck holding area along Gate 6 that can accommodate about 50 trucks catering to export shipments.
In addition, the terminal operator is negotiating the use of a two-hectare lot within the Baseco Compound as a container depot to complement its existing container yard in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
This early CTAP, the country’s biggest trucking association at the South Harbor, said the measures will offer little in solving the truck queue and traffic mess.
CTAP president Ruperto Bayocot pointed out that just for the period covering 4pm to 9pm, about 500 trucks come in and out of the terminal on top of the usual number of trucks at the terminal’s existing truck holding area.
“There are only two solutions to address this traffic problem at the South Harbor,” Bayocot said. “These are to give us truckers a 24-hour truck ban window for southbound cargoes and to provide a truck holding/staging area while waiting for the truck ban window.”
A container depot in Baseco is a good solution but it may be a year or two away from actual use since ATI is still in negotiations over the use of the property, he said. “A solution is needed now.”
It may also help, Bayocot said, if “shipping lines stop issuing the equipment interchange report (EIR) for South Harbor (within the terminal) in order not to further add to the traffic.” Instead, he said, the EIR should be issued outside the terminal.
CTAP is also requesting ATI to provide truckers a regular report on the shipping lines’ container slot status. This will allow for proper programming of container transfers.
Delays in the pick-up and deposit of containers as well as the traffic are putting further cost pressure on truckers, whose margins are already shrinking thanks to the high cost of fuel and spare parts.
