Ever since the impact of Manila City Hall’s truck ban was first felt starting March 2014 and the port congestion problem went from bad to worse, one of the potential solutions identified by stakeholders is a proposed truck scheduling system patterned after similar systems already implemented in major Australian ports and other countries.
The system is loosely referred to as vehicle booking, truck scheduling or truck appointment system among the various stakeholders. The general concept for this involves the following components:
- Trucks must have an advanced schedule before proceeding to the port to either pick up an import container or bring in an export loaded container nor empty container
- The advanced schedule is in the form of an “appointment” which port operators must “accept & confirm” in advance
- The appointment is also referred to as “vehicle booking” in foreign ports where such business process exists
- “Booking slots” are expressed in specific time frames during which the truck will be allowed entry into the port (e.g., 11AM to 12 noon, 12 noon to 1 PM, etc)
- A “guaranteed” booking must indicate the specific container number that the truck will pick up or deliver
- Bookings or appointments can be made anytime during the 24 x 7 cycle
- Penalty fee is charged to the trucker which has a “confirned booking / appointment” but did not arrive at the port during the specific time assigned to it
- During inclement weather such as floods and typhoon, confirmed bookings for that day will be rescheduled to the next day
Are our stakeholders ready for this kind of logistics and transport solution? I ask our readers to consider the following:
- Both the top managements of ATI and ICTSI were already quoted in several newspaper reports (including PortCalls) that a vehicle booking or truck appointment system constitutes a medium term solution to recurring cargo congestion in the country’s biggest ports
- The Manila City Vice Mayor disclosed during a recent Senate hearing that the city government of Manila is already exploring this solution
- A group of Manila City traffic management officials and staff was recently invited to visit the port of Sydney in order to take a first-hand look into how the vehicle booking system is implemented thereat
- The Philippine Ports Authority in a recent press release said that ongoing discussions about a proposed truck appointment system shall be deferred for the meantime.
In view of the above, I think we will hear more about the vehicle booking system during the next few months.
Leo V. Morada is a domain expert on IT applications in Philippine port operations with 25 years senior IT management experience implementing technology solutions in port operations, electronic transactions with customs & port authority, and air/sea port community system applications. He is CEO of Cargo Data Exchange Center, Inc, is a customs-accredited Value Added Service Provider. He can be contacted at lmorada3fl@yahoo.com.
