CBFCA sees merit in VTA container park stand

The Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia said it saw merit in the VTA position, which was this week criticised by Shipping Australia’s Llew Russell.

CBFCA manager freight and business operations Paul Zalai said he opposed imposing vehicle booking disciplines at empty container parks as this could cause additional staged movements of containers to meet allocated time slots.

"This in turn would impose additional transport moves, congestion and costs which would not be supported by the import and export sectors," he said.

"The CBFCA sees a key ingredient for success is ensuring that shipping lines continue to evacuate empty containers to minimise congestion at parks to avoid additional transport costs caused by delays.

"The CBFCA also looks forward to further engagement with stakeholders to address extended operating hours of parks to mirror stevedoring operations and to review existing shipping line container detention policies, systems and procedures."

VTA deputy chief executive Neil Chambers said his organisation was committed to the stakeholder engagement process established by the VTA and SAL in March, which had the support of the Port of Melbourne Corporation.

"We have invited Llew Russell and SAL members to join us for a joint meeting of the working groups in Melbourne in the second half of August to take stock of the work of the groups and to hear from the empty park operators on their commercial intentions on the implementation of information visibility and exchange systems," he said.