As you may know an increasing number of terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam are introducing new, more digitalized systems to release containers. This includes secure container release and booking of slots. Unfortunately these services are not offered for free and also increase the workload of our planning teams. In this blog we will set out some of the changes and also explain how we at Handico Trucking deal with these.
Secure container release
Secure container release is already in use at several shipping lines in Antwerp and Rotterdam. If you want to connect with us, we would like to ask you to send us a request through the portal. We recognize secure container release is a securer method to send out releases. The downside is of course we all need to have a paid subscription to have a fully functioning platform. Unfortunately this cost will be reflected in transport prices.
Changes in Rotterdam
In Rotterdam MyTerminal, which is the platform for Euromax and ECT Delta, also introduced a paid subscription service. It can still be used for free, but with very limited functions. In order for us to provide the service you are used to we decided to take a paid subscription. These paid subscription services are all additonal to the already existing paid services in the ports, such as Portbase.
From 1 April RWG will also start charging us trucking companies for timeslots between 6:00h and 18:00h. Although we do not agree it is up to us to pay to visit a terminal, as the terminals are already paid by the shipping companies, it seems unlikely RWG will give up this charge. RWG believes this will help ease congestion there during the day, but the problem is we need to pick-up during these hours to deliver on time.
Changes in Antwerp
In Antwerp most recently Quay 913 (Noordzeeterminal) introduced strict time slots of 2 hours. This has eased congestion in the port, but the number of slots is very limited. Sometimes our planners are busy for an hour to secure a slot for just one container. This time they cannot use to optimize their planning and provide service to customers.
The workload is added to booking slots at Quays 1700 and 1791, where this has been the case for several years. Something which can be surpassed by buying a 'premium' slot.
What we do to deal with this
At Handico Trucking we believe we can make a difference in eveything. Therefore we have set in motion certain processes already to handle all of these changes. We try to automate as much as possible, for this we are setting up API connections with terminals, intruducing AI into our own processes and creating a 'data lake'. By doing this we try to take away work from our planners and reduce costs to a bare minimum.
