Vizag port plans private truck fleet

The Visakhapatnam port is planning to deploy a fleet of 100-200 trucks with the help of private parties for speedy evacuation of cargo from berths.

Normally, cargo owners or stevedores handle the evacuation of cargo from the berths. However, for the last couple of years, they have not shown interest in investing in new trucks. As a result, the evacuation process is taking a longer time causing heavy losses to the port, said Ajay Kallam, chairman, Vizag port.

“Keeping this problem in mind, we are planning to set up a fleet of 100-200 trucks with the help of private operators. If stevedores delay in moving the cargo from berths, our fleet would chip in and the port can collect necessary charges from stevedores or the cargo owners,” he said.

Every day, on an average, 100,000 tonnes of different cargos need to be evacuated from berths and for this about 800-1,000 trucks are required. The stevedore agents have just around 300 trucks.

The Visakhapatnam Stevedores Association, however, feels the move may not benefit much. “Setting up a private truck fleet is an appreciable decision, but it will not be practicable,” said KV Krishna Kumar, president of the association. According to him, private operators will charge higher price for cargo transport and will even ask for truck idle time charges.

The port officials should allot the stockyards to stevedores to overcome the problem, he said, adding, “Most of the time, stockyards allotted to these agents are far away from the berths. If they allot the yards, which are closer to the berths, the cargo evacuation time would automatically be minimised.”

The association has also urged the port management to prepare a master plan for quick movement of cargo.