UK container haulage on the brink

theloadstar.co.uk/london-gatewa … sruptions/


But the switch may have come too late for the UK’s beleaguered container haulage industry, which has been described by insiders as “on the verge of disaster”, as a result of a myriad of factors including rising costs, a shortage of drivers and road and port congestion.

Ryan Clark, co-owner of forwarder Westbound Shipping Services, told The Loadstar: “I’m unsure whether it’s the perfect solution but, what with Felixstowe and Southampton (and haulage around those ports) very much struggling without any hint of easing up soon, this could be a welcome alternative option.”

The haulage issues led to Maersk announcing last week that it was increasing the notice period of UK haulage booking cancellations to two days, in an effort to “improve haulage availability and provide a more reliable service”, and any booking cancellation after that cut-off will be subject to a £290 charge.

Elsewhere, UK container haulage firms are considering putting new congestion-type charges for having to wait in queues at UK ports to deliver and collect boxes as a result of the financial pressure created by supply chain congestion.

One haulage boss explained how a combination of factors had conspired to bring the container haulage industry to the “brink of collapse” – the ongoing driver shortage crisis; road congestion; increasing costs such as fuel, wages and insurance; and the huge peaks and troughs of demand caused by the deployment of ULCVs and the difficulties ports face in handling them.

“What has to be done is to get the industry rebalanced – all of the risks and liabilities of these issues are on the hauliers; none of that is reflected in our returns.

“We typically have to wait three-to-four hours to deliver one empty container to a port; then wait a similar amount of time to collect an import container and quite easily another three-to-four hours to deliver at a shipper’s premise – that sequence is very common and amounts to nine hours of just sitting around and turning one day’s work into a two-day job,” he said.

“We typically have to wait three-to-four hours to deliver one empty container to a port; then wait a similar amount of time to collect an import container and quite easily another three-to-four hours to deliver at a shipper’s premise – that sequence is very common and amounts to nine hours of just sitting around and turning one day’s work into a two-day job,” he said.

But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

Once again the driver shortage is at crisis point - where?

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

What is the point of this reply, it just means this thread will descend into another Brexit thread, and there have been plenty enough now for us all to know your view on the subject and carryfasts and Winseers. :imp:

muckles:

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

What is the point of this reply, it just means this thread will descend into another Brexit thread, and there have been plenty enough now for us all to know your view on the subject and carryfasts and Winseers. :imp:

^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^

It will be another thread that will be hi-jacked by the usual people who will come on here to type out the same old drivvle.

It will then be put out to “Bullys”

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

Since when did Brexiteers ever confuse deep sea container traffic with cross channel ferry based Road Transport operations.Only remainers could dream that up.

As for the article.More like the long haul container traffic sector has been decimated by the shift from road to rail.Leaving the road transport sector with short haul work obviously involving loads of wasted time going no where and customers not being willing to pay for both the rail sector.With the road sector now needing to be costed by the hour not the mile because there’s no longer enough miles in the job to make it worthwhile otherwise.

I’m not sure how moving a service from one port to another will magically solve problems in the container haulage industry?
Reading the article it seems trucks are stuck for too long at the ports and the delivery/collection points and reading stuff on the owner/operators forum, I doubt the rates are good enough to have a truck and driver sat for several hours a day.
We keep hearing about this driver shortage, but in this free market, so loved by those capitalist bosses who wanted fewer regulations and barriers to business, so they could charge whatever the market could stand, surely that means you pay more for a limit resource.

The problems aren’t just containers. I do a mixture of curtain sider or fridge trunking. Over the last 3 weeks I have only driven more than 4 1/2 hours once and nearly all were 12 hour shifts. The rest was waiting. The transport companies could overcome this with high, rigidly enforced demurrage fees, but I think they are too scared to loose work if they do this.

Some years ago I read a letter in one of the transport press from an operator who stated that he had done a job for one of his best customers but had made nothing out of it. The question I asked then is the same one today, "why do operators do work for no profit, they are not a charity they are here to make a living and a bit on top. When will they learn?

waddy640:
Once again the driver shortage is at crisis point - where?

What they mean is that drivers are no longer willing to accept wage cuts to compensate for inefficient organisation, lack of planning, and industry fragmentation.

There is no shortage of drivers. They are only short of those willing to accept less.

They talk of “peaks and troughs of demand caused by ULCVs”. Simple answer is, you store the boxes longer on site (and invest in the land necessary for the capacity) as a consequence of receiving larger ships.

I had a fella who owns a chemical company complaining to me the other day about getting shafted by container companies. It seemed to be lost on him that he’s living in a big house in a nice part of town, while container drivers are not even getting the average hourly rate of pay.

It’s the same old sense of entitlement amongst British bosses.

Carryfast:

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

Since when did Brexiteers ever confuse deep sea container traffic with cross channel ferry based Road Transport operations.Only remainers could dream that up.

As for the article.More like the long haul container traffic sector has been decimated by the shift from road to rail.Leaving the road transport sector with short haul work obviously involving loads of wasted time going no where and customers not being willing to pay for both the rail sector.With the road sector now needing to be costed by the hour not the mile because there’s no longer enough miles in the job to make it worthwhile otherwise.

Back to moaning about the rail sector I see, rather than asking why the road sector doesn’t just make itself more efficient, especially by consolidating and wringing out some of the operators (the remainder of which will then be able to charge appropriately in the market)?

waddy640:
Some years ago I read a letter in one of the transport press from an operator who stated that he had done a job for one of his best customers but had made nothing out of it.

Did he mean worst customer?

NoClass:

waddy640:
Some years ago I read a letter in one of the transport press from an operator who stated that he had done a job for one of his best customers but had made nothing out of it.

Did he mean worst customer?

Clearly his definition of “best customer” was “I make no profit on a load but hope to make it up on volume”. :laughing:

Currently its taking us around 4 to 5 days from enquiry to actually getting a container in to load, it used to be 48 hours.
By the way we load in about 45 minutes to an hour.

Rjan:

NoClass:

waddy640:
Some years ago I read a letter in one of the transport press from an operator who stated that he had done a job for one of his best customers but had made nothing out of it.

Did he mean worst customer?

Clearly his definition of “best customer” was “I make no profit on a load but hope to make it up on volume”. :laughing:

That is getting on the slippery slope to bankruptcy. The customer simply plays one against the other and gets to save lots of dosh whilst the hauliers make nothing. Not the way to run a business.

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

Do ■■■■ off…you whining pathetic media fed little troll.
You haven’t got a clue, just the same old drivel at any opportunity, desperate for some forum oxygen.
The vote didn’t go your way, get over it and grow the ■■■■ up you miserable wretched little boy.
It’s getting tiresome having to read another remnant posting it’s bitter deluded drivel…

Norfolkinclue1:

GasGas:
But the Brexiters are telling us that these ports can handle all the traffic that goes through Dover… :smiley:

Do [zb] off…you whining pathetic media fed little troll.
You haven’t got a clue, just the same old drivel at any opportunity, desperate for some forum oxygen.
The vote didn’t go your way, get over it and grow the [zb] up you miserable wretched little boy.
It’s getting tiresome having to read another remnant posting it’s bitter deluded drivel…

Don’t hold back [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Rjan:

Carryfast:
As for the article.More like the long haul container traffic sector has been decimated by the shift from road to rail.Leaving the road transport sector with short haul work obviously involving loads of wasted time going no where and customers not being willing to pay for both the rail sector.With the road sector now needing to be costed by the hour not the mile because there’s no longer enough miles in the job to make it worthwhile otherwise.

Back to moaning about the rail sector I see, rather than asking why the road sector doesn’t just make itself more efficient, especially by consolidating and wringing out some of the operators (the remainder of which will then be able to charge appropriately in the market)?

By your logic you’ll just end up with fewer trucks still going no where and having to charge the same unsustainable hourly based rate to justify the same short haul business model.The industry has been here before in the 1930’s and found then that limiting itself to a short haul rail freight errand running operation as a type of charity to suit the rail freight sector isn’t viable.Because if the wheels aren’t turning a truck isn’t earning.Just as an aircraft is earning nothing sat on the ground going no where.

Container haulage is only really viable now carrying out predominately local work, with your depot local to multiple ports and/or rail heads. It’s the only way to make trucks productive enough to make it pay. Even then, it’s a struggle often to even get two jobs a day in with the ridiculous turn around times at ports, rail heads and container yards plus long tip times.

Hauliers should have been charging demurrage for delays at the lifting points years ago. The likes of Freightliner would probably be out of business within a month, 4 hours to get a box lifted & another one put on at one of their gaffs the other week :unamused: I can’t imagine it would be difficult to get container hauliers to stick together on this issue because it’s crippling for everyone.

I know a haulier who got out of boxes 18 months ago, I wondered why, now I know.
Looking into this more, I could never understand how it paid, much like I could never understand how any lorry being held up for 4-6 hours or more could pay, unless the rates being paid were too much :laughing:

The chickens are coming home to roost and the industry is currently distracting from the real problems by blaming it on driver shortage and congestion, when all the time it is a system that is untenable for the hauliers, all of them…I really do hope we see some realignment of the rates and systems, you would think with all the wonderful computer systems and logistics policy, that things would be streamlined and working like clockwork, but yet again, mans greed will undo it all. :unamused: