<p>The Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia Inc (CBFCA) has opposed a two-tier vehicle booking system at Port Botany as the answer to improving the port’s landside operations.</p> <p>It has called for a fixed premium price regime ahead of the New South Wales Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART) final report, due in March.</p> <p>IPART suggested a two-tiered vehicle booking system (VBS) and a more reliable rail service as the main ways to improve significantly landside operations at the port in its draft review on October 30.</p> <p>Responding to the IPART review, the CBFCA has called for:</p> <p>• Customs’s container examination facility (CEF) to work towards a 24ǝ operation to free up stevedore resources to better service industry during peak demand times</p> <p>• The extension of free of storage time to three days from the time that containers are returned to the stevedore from CEF processing</p> <p>• Initiatives to achieve an automated gate receipt process and so minimise the need for road transport operators to require paperwork for delivery purposes </p> <p>• Increased utilisation of super B-double trucks within and extended beyond the Port Botany precinct</p> <p>• Implementation of consultative initiatives to increase the effective utilisation of rail </p> <p>• That the proposed Port Botany Logistics Team be inclusive of an appropriate cross-section of industry representatives</p> <p>• The creation of a VBS that encourages two way container loading and examination of processes to support stack run-ins of empty containers to meet increasing demands </p> <p>• The VBS having increased transparency for all stakeholders regarding slot allocation, related statistical data and real time provision of truck turnaround times </p> <p>• The VBS maintain flexibility to allow swapping of container number data before delivery</p> <p>• Fixed price peak pricing regime in preference to a two-tiered VBS system and associated auction system and</p> <p>• Use of revenue generated by a fixed price peak pricing system to support initiatives directly related to improving the efficiency of containerised freight logistics, such as financial incentives (payment) to support after hour transport functions and empty container operations.</p> <p><em>To comment on the review, email nicole.holyer@informa.com.au.</em> </p> <br />
