Transnet tries to ease truck congestion at Richards Bay

An embargo on trucks offloading at Richards Bay during the festive season caused high traffic volumes and backlogs of vehicles waiting to be serviced.

Last week hundreds of trucks were queuing on the N2 to offload coal at the harbour for export.

A video captured by a motorist showed a line of trucks tailbacking each other on the N2 southbound from Canefields to the John Ross Highway in the north of the province last Sunday.

Transnet said in response to questions the “backlog was due to Transnet and the City of Umhlathuze deciding to minimise the trucking operation during the festive season to accommodate the high volume of tourists, visitors and holiday activities held during the festive period.

“During the festive period only planned trucks were allowed to travel to the port of Richards Bay. The embargo was communicated to the customers to stop loading as from December 15 to January 5.

“This embargo caused a traffic system imbalance when trucking operations resumed during the first week of January, as all transporters and miners were still at the loading stage awaiting to offload cargo in the port.”

Transnet said it has implemented a colour-coding truck-calling process to combat the congestion.

“Trucks are dispatched with a sticker on a window screen to identify which area/vessel they are destined to. There are also additional staging areas inside the terminals.”

Transnet has also beefed up offloading capacity by deploying additional resources to avoid any further congestion.

“At the staging areas, personnel are also in constant communication with each truck’s supervisor via a two-way radio, for guidance of accurate destination. There is also  constant negotiation with customers to deploy marshals that will assist in directing the traffic.

“In the cases where a truck arrives in Richards Bay without a permit, they are reported to the road traffic department and a fine is issued.”

A task team comprising Transnet, municipal officials, traffic department, cargo owners and trucking companies has been formed to deal with the situation.

TimesLIVE