The Hindu Business Line : Trailer operators’ strike hits work at Kochi port

The container trailer movement to and from Kochi port has been affected from Tuesday afternoon following a strike by the trailer operators in protest against the parking fee imposed by the port authorities for trailers.

Mr V.P.Chandrasekharan, Secretary of the Cochin Container Carrier Owners Welfare Association, said that the port had started collecting a parking fee at the rate of Rs 15/hour for 40 feet containers and Rs 10 for 20 feet containers after six hours of entry to the port area from January 5. This means that a trailer which is entering the port area has to complete loading/unloading operations within six hours and any additional stay within the port premises beyond six hours will be chargeable on an hourly basis, he said.

Parking fees

He pointed out that it would be difficult to complete loading/unloading operations within six hours of stipulated time as more time is required for trailers at the pre-stage as well as for customs examination. Besides, he said that the parking fee at the newly opened truck parking terminal is also on the higher side which is at the rate of Rs125 for 20 ft containers and Rs175 for 40 ft, forcing the operators with no other option but to park their vehicles within the port area as was done earlier.

The port had earlier given an assurance that the new regulations with regard to trailer parking would be implemented only after discussions after the Volvo Ocean Race, he said and alleged that the officials had back tracked from the assurance by taking a unilateral decision without giving any notice to the operators. The association, he said, had cooperated with the port authorities during the time of Volvo Ocean Race by removing all vehicles from the Willingdon Island to clear the area of trailers, he added. Refuting all allegations that the port had taken unilateral decision on parking fee, the Port Chairman, Mr N. Ramachandran, said that the association was involved in every stage of discussions before implementing the regulations. The regulations for trucks were imposed considering the increasing number of fatal accidents in the port area due to haphazard parking of trailers. Moreover, the parking fee is necessary because of the prohibitive cost of maintenance of roads, which is costly of late. Asked whether he would be calling the association for talks, the Chairman said, “I feel that their stand is unreasonable and there is no question of inviting them for talks because they had gone on strike without giving any notice to the port management”.