The President, Shippers Association Lagos State (SALS), Mr Jonathan Nicol, has urged the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to simplify the call-up system of returning overtime containers into the ports.
Nicol made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.
He alleged that some transporters in Lagos paid between N20,000 and N30,000 for 1 × 20ft container in an off dock terminal and between N40,000 and N45,000 for 1× 40ft container.
“Forty five thousand naira is too much to offload an empty container and this is the reason why those truck drivers cannot afford to pay and they prefer to remain on the streets.
“We want NPA to look into the issue of huge payment being charged by operators of the holding bays.
“We want all the payment issues to be streamlined properly; not just the money but the service that normally goes with the payment.
“Empty containers that should be off-loaded are supposed to be free because the shipping lines are taking them back,” Nicol said.
He said that trucks are not warehouse where empty container should be kept.
Nicol said that it was the duty of the Shipping lines to collect their empty containers after off loading the goods from the containers.
The association boss, however, said that most of the empty containers should be off-loaded in the night to reduce the gridlock on ports access roads in Lagos.
