Port truckers call on shipping lines to clear container logjam

Insider Spotlight

• Manila port truckers are calling on foreign shipping lines to clear empty containers that they say have clogged depots and disrupted cargo movement.
• Truckers say difficulty returning empty containers has contributed to an 85 percent to 90 percent slowdown in Manila port operations.
• Customs brokers and truckers began a weeklong “rest day” on Oct. 5 to press shipping lines and the government for solutions.

Manila port truckers are calling on foreign shipping lines to take back empty containers and provide adequate depot capacity, warning that a worsening container logjam is disrupting cargo movement and driving up costs.

The Port Truckers Customs Brokers Multipurpose Cooperative and allied industry groups said shipping lines should either make sufficient space available for empty-container returns or move the equipment out of the Philippines.

Why it matters

Truckers say the shortage of return slots is leaving trucks stranded with empty containers instead of allowing them to haul imports from the Manila International Container Port, creating a bottleneck that could ripple through the supply chain.

The group said truckers can wait two weeks to a month before securing slots to return empty containers. Some parties are allegedly charging P15,000 or more just to obtain a return slot, according to Port Truckers Customs Brokers Multipurpose Cooperative chairperson and Customs Brokers, Port Truckers and Alliance convenor Reynaldo Soliman.

Soliman called on the Department of Trade and Industry to investigate the practice.

By the numbers

The group said Manila port operations were already experiencing an 85 percent to 90 percent slowdown, while around a thousand empty containers were awaiting official return to shipping-line depots, citing an estimate from the Bureau of Customs.

Detention charges can range from P1,000 to P3,000 per container per day depending on container size, while temporary safekeeping can cost more than P5,000 daily, the group said.

What they’re doing

Customs brokers and truckers began a weeklong “rest day” on Oct. 5 to pressure shipping lines and authorities to address the problem.

Organizers called on customs brokers, importers, exporters, truckers, drivers and helpers to participate, stressing that the action is not a mass rally. Instead, participants are withholding the digital processing needed to move cargo.

“Foreign shipping lines vacate your empty containers or bring it home to the origin now!” the group said in its Facebook post.

The truckers said addressing the empty-container buildup would free vehicles to move cargo and help restore normal operations at Manila’s ports. — Shawn Yao | Ed: Daxim L. Lucas