Landside delays under the microscope at West Swanson

“SIGNIFICANT landside performance delays” at DPWA West Swanson terminal in Melbourne have prompted calls for improvement by one industry group.

In a statement, the Container Transport Alliance Australia referred to delays over the weekend and the start of this week that had caused “havoc for container transport operators and their freight forwarder and import / export customers”.

“Lengthy truck turnaround time (TTT) delays of upwards of two to three hours, plus a lack of Vehicle Booking System (VBS) slots at DP World WST, have led to transport operators not being able to meet the import container pick up and export receival demands of their customers,” the CTAA stated.

“This has meant forwarders & importers not receiving their containers until day four or day five since discharge (in some instances), and export containers potentially missing vessel cut off.”

The CTAA said it previously raised the issue of landside delays at West Swanson in early August.

“We have commented previously that the Port of Melbourne hasn’t yet hit peak season volumes,” CTAA director Neil Chambers said. “However, the peak is now upon us and volumes are likely to be elevated over the coming weeks. We sincerely hope that DP World allocates enough labour and machine time to adequately service the increased landside volumes through the terminal.”

Mr Chambers said transport operators were willing to work the shifts allocated, including weekend and night operations.

“However, it’s extremely frustrating if they are unable to meet the cargo demands of their customers due to a lack of VBS slot availability and poor Terminal landside performance.

“Every time the pick-up of an import container or the delivery of an export container to meet vessel receival windows are delayed, it compounds the workload of container transport operators,” he said.

“CTAA will be looking towards leadership from the Port of Melbourne and Freight Victoria… over the coming weeks to foster discussions between all container logistics stakeholders to plan for peak season demand.”

Mr Chambers said transport operators already paid high terminal access fees and vehicle booking system (VBS) charges directly to terminals and faced penalties for non-performance, without any mechanism for countervailing penalties.

“Transport operators, and ultimately their customers, expect and deserve better service.”

He said the CTAA might consider campaigning for mandatory performance standards in the container logistics terminal interface similar to laws that exist in New South Wales.