Pre-booking does the trick

Involved in the syndicate are Banco Sabadell, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Fortis Bank, HSBC Bank, Santander and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, although a total of 22 financial institutions participated in the operation.

Southampton’s system, introduced in the summer, is going down well with hauliers and carriers alike. The aim of the Southampton Container Terminals initiative was to end traffic jams at the dock gates and a survey has found it to be successful and popular, after being initially greeted with widespread scepticism.

In Valencia, a new information system is to provide advance notice of containers being received or delivered. The SIC system does not allocate slots for hauliers to deliver and pick up boxes but is based on receiving more information in advance. It will be put in place for pick-ups from 1400h gradually rolling back in stages to 0600h. This follows changes in operations at the port and the purchase of more equipment.