By Godfrey Bivbere

THE Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC, has blamed the return of traffic gridlock along the Apapa port access roads to the collapse of the call up system introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.

Executive Secretary of the Council, Hassan Bello, who disclosed this at a sensitisation workshop with the theme, “Truck Transit Parks: A Panacea for Crash Free Haulage Operations” in Nigeria organized by the NSC and Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, faulted the indiscriminate parking of trucks along port access roads.

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Bello who was represented by Akin Makinde, Director of Inland Services, noted that the Council, being a member of the taskforce, was aware and would soon commence enforcement of the law against indiscriminate parking.

In his words, “The present situation is as a result of a breakdown of the call up system. Government is working on it to ensure that it is properly reintroduced and ensure that these trucks park at the various parks around the ports.

“The port is not supposed to be a place for permanent parking of trucks or cargo. The trucks are supposed to be in transit place from where they are called to the port to pick-up their cargo and move away.”

Speaking earlier Director, Special Duties, Samuel Vongtau, said about 41 percent of articulated truck accidents is caused by fatigue.

Stressing the importance of the transit truck parks which are places designed to provide temporary rest for drivers, Vongtau stated: “It has been discovered that the main problems drivers complain about is 39 percent fatigue related while main causes of road crashes are 41 percent fatigue related. This is because most drivers sleep for just 4hours in every 24hours.”

He said that the TTP is one of the 114 Agriculture and Transportation projects under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, focus labs that was organised by Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

Vanguard