Patrick Terminals has announced plans to launch two new landside efficiency initiatives and publish quarterly landside performance metrics, which will cover their terminals in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle. They will also establish Representative Landside Efficiency Groups at these ports, which intend to focus on ways to develop solutions that support landside performance and the overall efficiency of their terminals – and provide information about their landside investment program.
Patrick says the new initiatives are ‘market-led’ and reflect industry feedback on landside matters. A Charter agreement governing the groups will be published on their website. The metrics will broadly align with the Victorian Voluntary Port Performance Model which was developed by Freight Victoria in consultation with transport operators and industry bodies.
Landside Services cover the loading and unloading of containers on and off trucks and rail wagons at container parks. Truck turnaround times are considered a key indicator of landside productivity and show how fast a stevedore processes trucks within a terminal. This is distinct from Quayside Services which cover the loading and unloading of a vessel – the key productivity indicator for that division is referred to as ‘the net crane rate.’
The primary concern for importers and exporters is the cost involved in providing these services, which is ultimately passed on to the end user.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has acknowledged that ‘given stevedores provide landside services to transport operators, it is efficient for stevedores to levy fees and charges on transport operators for those services, provided they are not excessive.’ The ACCC also confirms that ‘the level of profitability of stevedores over the past 5 years does not appear to be indicative of stevedores earning excessive returns.’
Whilst landside costs represent a very small part of total supply chain costs, the ACCC
highlights that there is full visibility of these landside costs available to cargo owners, observing that ‘cargo owners lack visibility on the extent to which shipping lines are passing on any savings in pass-through charges.’ In contrast, cargo owners can observe any changes in pass-through charges they pay to transport operators, as stevedores and empty container parks make those publicly available.
The Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) has called on the other stevedoring companies, particularly DP World Australia and Hutchison Ports to follow suit in Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle, as well as Flinders Ports in Adelaide. CTAA will be recognised with a seat at the table in ach of Patrick’s group meetings.
According to their media release, Patrick Terminals has appointed Rita Antranik to the position of National Intermodal Manager and say Rita will “work closely with landside customers to drive engagement focused on landside productivity benefits.”
For related news on Patrick during 2022 see this LINK.
For professional advice about international shipping and transport, contact us here at Colless Young. As licensed Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders, we handle all your imports and exports, reliably and economically. We are based in Brisbane and offer a complete range of logistics services, by airfreight and sea cargo, through all Australian ports and airports.
