Container depots in Manila remain full with boxes staying an average 15 days

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ID-100180769Despite improvements in truck movements and yard utilization at Manila ports, container depots in Metro Manila are still heavily congested.

“Although congestion at the two international ports has improved, it will take some time before this can benefit the off-dock yards,” Carl Fontanilla, president of the Container Depot Association of the Philippines (CDAP), told PortCalls in an email.

Fontanilla said CDAP-member yards in Metro Manila are still seeing “beyond normal” capacity because “priority in the shipping out of empty containers will (still) be from the main docks.”

He explained, “As the space for empty containers at the main docks becomes available, shipping lines might prioritize the return of the empty containers from consignees to the main docks to save on double handling.”

Fontanilla said the average stay of boxes in CDAP-member yards varies depending on the movement of the shipping line they service but “as of now, majority of the containers are staying at least 15 days at the yards.”

Even if the Manila truck ban has been indefinitely lifted last month, Fontanilla said this has had “no impact on the rate of pull out” because Metro Manila container yards remain congested.

“What we are trying to manage is to avoid queueing on the roads leading to the CYs (container yards),” the CDAP president said.

He noted some container yards have “adopted a number queueing system instead of the truck actually lining up at the gates.”

During a Senate hearing on port congestion on October 16, Fontanilla noted that some container yards have already opened operations at night to help with port decongestion efforts.

He noted CDAP-member container yards that still have available capacity are those located in Bulacan and Cavite, which can accommodate up to 12,600 twenty footers.

“Hopefully this should be enough to handle the surge in the volume this coming Christmas season assuming of course that the movement at the major ports will continue to be high,” Fontanilla said. – Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of potowizard at FreeDigitalPhotos.net