In a bid to enhance port integration and streamline operations, the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has urged authorities to adopt the truck call-up system used at Shanghai Port, China, citing its efficiency in managing logistics and reducing congestion.
In a notice addressed to the relevant agencies overseeing truck traffic at Lagos ports, AMATO’s Technical Head, Mr. Adeshina Ajijola, said that the dynamic coordination of Shanghai’s call-up system not only improves truck scheduling but also aligns cargo-specific requirements with port resources, ensuring that trucks are routed correctly upon entry.
Ajijola suggested that a truck scheduler system could complement the existing Eto system to mitigate the recurring traffic congestion at Apapa Port. He explained that Shanghai Port utilizes the Port Logistics Information Platform and China’s “Single Window” system, which consolidates documentation, including cargo manifests, for customs, logistics, and port operations. Manifests are electronically submitted and shared among stakeholders, ensuring seamless coordination.
He said: “The Shanghai Port employs an advanced, integrated system to coordinate truck movements, which leverages digital platforms and data integration, including manifest information. Manifests are electronically submitted and shared among stakeholders, ensuring seamless coordination. Trucks must book time slots in advance via the Truck Reservation System (TRS). While the primary function is slot allocation, the system may integrate manifest data to prioritize trucks based on cargo type, such as perishables or hazardous materials, and assign appropriate gates or storage areas within the port, reducing congestion.
“Manifests are also critical for customs clearance. By linking the TRS with the Single Window system, trucks undergo pre-clearance, accelerating entry. Hazardous cargo manifests, for instance, triggers specific routing for safety compliance. Real-time data, including traffic and terminal workload, primarily drives truck scheduling, but manifest details enhance efficiency by aligning cargo-specific requirements with port resources. This integration ensures trucks are routed correctly upon entry.
“While the Truck Admission System primarily relies on slot reservations and real-time traffic management, manifest data is integrated into broader port systems to optimize routing, compliance, and prioritization. This holistic approach minimizes delays and enhances operational efficiency at Shanghai Port.
Adoption of an advanced integrated system by Shanghai was doable and achievable because Chinese national interest was placed above personal parochial selfish interest by policymakers. “They placed China’s interest first before and above their personal interest. But here in Nigeria, we only have policy butchers with sharp cutlasses butchering anything butcherable to fill their pockets to the detriment of national interest.
“We find it difficult to implement a common national single-window policy due to greed and corruption. The truck scheduler system is poised to, in practical terms, support the existing Eto system of releasing and passing trucks to curb the intermittent traffic congestion at the Apapa Port. It is a combination of strategies (an integral one at that) that aims to streamline the truck deployment process in concert with the existing Eto system as well as the e-tag being proposed.
“We hope the authorities would, without further delay, activate the process to implement these solutions to improve the annual throughput of the Apapa Port, including the terminals.”
Reacting to the development, Managing Director of the Truck Transit Parks Limited, TTP, (a firm contracted by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to manage the movement of trucks in and out of the ports) Mr. Jama Onwubuariri said that all that have been suggested by AMATO were currently obtainable in the ports but for corruption.
He said: “All of these have either been deployed or proposed for our ports. Remove corruption and we will all be fine. But Nigerian factor no gree us.”
