Apapa Gridlock: Truck Owners Demand Compensation

• Apapa Gridlock: Truck Owners Demand Compensation

Following the persistent gridlock along the Lagos ports access roads, truck owners have said that they deserve to be compensated for the number of days their trucks spend in the queue trying to gain entry into the ports.

The Chairman, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Haulage Section, Tin Can, Apapa/Kirikiri Chapter, Isiaka Olalere, said this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos.

Olalere noted that averagely, truck owners made N150,000 per trip which should not last more than two days, adding that in a situation where the truck spent three weeks in the queue did not augur well for the health of the drivers and their business.

He said, “The trucks spend weeks in the queue in an attempt to return empty containers to the ports. While the containers attract retention fees from the importers, the truck owner does not get anything for the length of time his truck spends in that queue, which is very unfair because the longer the truck stays in the queue, the more money the truck owner loses.”

He suggested that there should be provision for container holding bays, adding, “We, truck owners, are tired of bringing containers to the ports. The ideal situation should be when terminal A loads, the owner should stamp at the back of the document and say ‘Go to so, so and so holding bay and drop your container’.

“But in a situation where about 5,000 containers are coming out of the ports on a daily basis and the holding bay we have can only carry 1,000 containers, where will the remaining 4,000 park? This is the problem. “

The Assistant Secretary, Joint Council of Seaport Truck Operators, Omotayo Stevens, said that to address the problems, they must be approached in a holistic manner.

He said, “For instance, empty containers are not supposed to be returned to the ports. The shipping companies are supposed to have their own container holding bays where the empty containers are stored. So that when the ships arrive, it is then that they will call for the empty containers for loading. But they are not operating that way.”

On the congestion, the Secretary General, RTEAN, Tin Can Chapter, Godwin Ikeji, declared that the government had failed to act in time concerning the issue of decaying infrastructure adding that if they could implement some crash programmes like forcing shipping companies to have holding bays, it would go a long way.

“This is something we have been agitating since 2010 without any result. Even when they take measures, the measures are taken in a very careless manner.

“Look at what is happening at Berger Yard (Apapa-Oshodi Expressway) now. They are trying to fix potholes; they worked during the week days but on weekends that they would have used to do more work, they did not work on Sunday,” he stated.