Truckers Blame APMT for Apapa Port Congestion, Commends TTP’s E-Call Up System

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Truck owners operating at the nation’s premier port of Apapa, has fingered the APM Terminal for being responsible for most of the traffic chaos being experienced on the port access roads, even as they commended the Truck Transit Park Limited (TTP) for doing a good job in managing the electronic Call-up system, ETO which regulates movement of trucks into the port.

In a chat with DAILY TREND on Wednesday, Chairman of the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC) Alhaji Lukeman Shittu Zangalo commended the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for deeming it fit to introduce TTP to manage access to the port through the Eto Call-up system

Recall that NPA had on February 27, 2021, introduced the electronic call-up system for trucks at the ports in Lagos to end the gridlock witnessed on the road. The e-call-up system was launched alongside an app called Eto, which truckers are expected to use to book turns to enter the port.

Speaking on how the TTP has fared in managing the port traffic in Apapa, the LASTCOC chairman gave a pass mark, saying that anyone calling for a return to the manual process are the same persons benefitting from the traffic chaos of the past.

According to him, most of the traffic challenges experienced on the port access is caused by inefficient processes of the APM terminal which is the biggest port concessionaire in Apapa. He said that whenever the terminal is not at its optimum, all other terminals in Apapa are affected and this leads to traffic chaos and congestion.

“When the Navy was in charge of controlling the Apapa traffic, truckers spend days sleeping on the road from Ijora to port gate, and when they get to Area B, they might still be turned back, we do all this with a lot of money.
During the time of the Police, we know how much we were spending to access the port.

“However, presently as TTP is controlling the traffic, they are doing well, you can even stay at home or even abroad and book for your truck, and they would have access to the port for just N21,500.

“In terms of cost and ease of doing business, there has been a great improvement from the past experience.
Most of the truck owners do not know what is going on at the port, for me, I am always at the port, I know the in and out of the port activities, when the trucks are not moving, I know the challenges, however most truckers just remain at home without caring to find out what is happening. I can tell you for free that TTP is doing a great job.

“The only challenge we have right now is that whenever APMT is not working efficiently, it affects every other person at Apapa Port, we know what APMT is receiving everyday, they are the ones receiving export containers, flat bed trucks, reefer containers, empty containers, barging, rail and so on.

“So, anytime their activities is slow, it practically affects all other terminals and the trucks wouldn’t be able to access the port, this also affects all the pre-gate pass because the trucks released from the truck parks would not be able to enter the port.

“The only advise I would offer the TTP is for them to improve more in monitoring, so that they know what is going on at every time. We know that without a truck having the Eto Call-up, it cannot gain access to the port, and when the road is congested, TTP would not continue to release more trucks into the queue when the Terminal is not working well.

“So, I commend the TTP for doing a perfect job, if anybody come out to say they are not performing well and that we should return back to manual control of trucks, these people making that call are the ones benefiting from the chaos of the past, they are the same people behind the racketeering of Call-up tickets at the rate of N250,000.

“We are not praying for the experiences of the past, we just have to continue moving forward and keep improving, the TTP is going well” Zangalo stated

Zangalo who is also the Lagos State Chairman of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) blamed some truck owners for contributing to the traffic congestion in Apapa.
According to him, some of the truck drivers do not have the requisite Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) to enter into the port, but they would prefer to stay on queue and use the opportunity to scout for customers and jobs to lift from the port.

“When TTP stops releasing trucks sometimes, we that we are on ground would understand that some of the trucks don’t have TDO, they just stay on the road, and when the queue is long, TTP wouldn’t want to release more trucks.

“Sometimes, we the truckers are the problem of ourselves, you cannot see a trucker that is spending money on the road that would not want to jump queue and shunt.

“Whenever APMT is not working well, the price of picking up containers would automatically skyrocket and everyone would be scampering for Call-up tickets just to pick up the high price.
Anyone that says Eto is not working, definitely the individual is sick” he concluded.