International Container Terminal Services, Inc. has appointed Australian IT company 1-Stop to implement the container booking system (CBS) at the Manila International Container Terminal.
In an email to PortCalls, ICTSI Head for Asia Pacific and the Subcontinent Christian Gonzalez said that during the initial phases of the system’s deployment, “times will be booked for containers, giving importers the flexibility to choose any trucking provider they want.”
Gonzalez said he “can’t comment on the official go live date at the moment but we will rush this and detailed implementation work will begin this Monday (May 18).”
In a press statement, ICTSI said CBS will “limit peaks of trucks around the port area and balance their flow on city roads”. It will also ensure truckers of the smoothest flow possible to and from the ports while limiting the impact of trade movement on the environment and surrounding communities.
The port operator said the initiative will reduce unplanned volume surges in and out of the terminals as truck arrivals will be more predictable; peaks, historically brought about by multiple and uncoordinated truck restrictions, will also be flattened.
Moreover, “trucking companies will be able to get more trips in a day from their fleet and importers and exporters will have transparency over the arrivals and departures of their cargo,” ICTSI said, adding CBS is expected to help ease traffic in the City of Manila, which also supports the project.
Manila in February last year implemented a daytime truck ban to curb traffic in the area. The ban has been temporarily lifted in September.
The port operator said local government support is “critical for the maximum effect of the 1-Stop CBS, as any truck ban implementation will limit or nullify the benefits of such a system.”
The Department of Transportation and Communications and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority have earlier expressed their support for the project.
CBS familiarization for stakeholders will begin as soon as possible, Gonzalez said. “No implementation will be successful without full, objective, and transparent consultation with all our customers. There will be new procedures and rules which must be followed but these will consider the unique factors in our logistics chain,” he explained.
Asked if the project is in partnership with port operator Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) since they service the same network of trucks, Gonzalez said it is not a direct partnership with ATI but rather “an agreement to use the same back end system.”
The front-end customer interface may have unique elements to suit each terminal’s individual processes, Gonzalez pointed out. – Roumina Pablo
