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Heavy trucks are being forced to use Auckland's busy city streets as holding bays while they wait to get access to the downtown container terminals.
Ports of Auckland is under pressure to improve its processing of containers as delays in getting them on and off road vehicles have
seen long queues of waiting trucks jamming nearby roads.
Tom Ryan Cartage, the country's largest privately owned transport company, has reported drivers left sitting in their cabs for hours while they wait for access to the Bledisloe and Fergusson terminals.
Mr Ryan told the Herald it was a serious problem and particularly bad in the past few months.
He said the port company was clearly struggling to manage increased volumes and did not have enough straddle carriers, which move the containers around.
The problem seems to have been exacerbated since January when Ports of Auckland became the favoured North Island port for handling cargo from Maersk - the world's biggest shipping line, accounting for 40 per cent of the New Zealand market.
Mr Ryan became so frustrated with the delays that he invoiced Ports of Auckland $64,000 to cover the cost of the wasted downtime.
"They told me: 'Don't start the battle because you will lose the war'."
Just a week ago he sent a truck down to pick up a container. "It arrived at 6.30am and did not leave until 11am."
The problem was worst at the Tinley St entrance to the Bledisloe container terminal, from where truck traffic could back up all the way into Beach Rd on the other side of Quay St. "It sometimes blocks the entrance to Foodtown."
Raewin Head, northern region area manager of the Road Transport Association, said the trucking industry was concerned about the situation and wanted action.
Ms Head said Ports of Auckland appeared to be taking the situation "extremely seriously".
She said the ports were particularly busy given the strong economic climate.
Jens Madsen, Ports of Auckland's chief operating officer, accepted there had been problems with delays.
"We acknowledge there have been some difficulties with truck congestion which has affected truck turnaround times, especially over the past two months as the port goes through a transitional phase adjusting to handling more ships with larger container exchanges."
Mr Madsen said the port company was continually trying to improve its processes and was working with its shipping customers and the trucking companies.
Already systems were in place to keep the truck companies advised of potential hold-ups, including a live webcam system so truck operators could check how many trucks were at the port at any time.
Mr Madsen said trucking companies had been asked to spread out their arrival times, which they had done "to a certain extent".
The port operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and Ports of Auckland was pursuing options to ensure a more even spread of truck arrivals.
"Ideally we would like many more trucks to arrive at the port at night, that is between 7pm and 7am, to avoid coinciding with peak-time traffic for Auckland commuters."
The feasibility of a truck-booking system was being investigated, he said.
Another option was the increased use of the port's rail exchange.
"Our rail volumes for January and February are up by 50 per cent on the same period of last year, and one of our targets is to move as many containers as possible by rail to our inland port at Wiri."
Mr Madsen said the port was still in a period of transition, dealing with changes in vessel scheduling.
"Although these are now largely bedded in, we still expect to experience some further lumps of large container volumes, in particular when more scheduling changes occur mid-year," he said.
Yvonne Theuerkauf, customer services manager for Axis Intermodal, said for the past two months the average turnaround - from when a truck arrived at the processing office until it drove out - was 30 minutes.
"We would prefer a lower average."
An extra 11 straddle carriers had been ordered and the training of new drivers was under way.
Mrs Theuerkauf said an average of about 300-400 trucks came into the port each day.
The port was also reconfiguring truck lanes on Sunderland St, which accesses the Fergusson terminal, and installing a new exit lane and gate to help reduce queues and improve truck turnaround times.
