Concerted Effort Sought To Clear Goods Congestion

Press, Volume C, Issue 29453, 3 March 1961, Page 10

Concerted Effort Sought To Clear Goods Congestion

Christchurch carriers and warehousemen are to be asked to work evenings and weekends until the congestion at the railway goods sheds is cleared, while the Railways Department is to intensify its efforts to obtain 40 extra men to work in the sheds. This was agreed on yesterday at a special meeting called by the General Manager of Railways (Mr A. T Gandell) to consider the pile-up of freight caused by the coincidence of the seasonal flush with an exceptionally busy shipping period. Also as a result of the meeting, Mr Gandell undertook to raise with the Government the questions of the re-establish-ment of a cargo control committee at Lyttelton, and of altering the end date of the import-licensing year so that the beginning of the new year would not coincide with the seasonal flush. . “Inward shipping is being cleared at the rate of 500 to 600 tons a day while there are 7000 tons (1400 waggons) under loau ” Mr Gandell told the meeting. “It looks as though inward shipping will continue at the rate of 10,000 tons weekly for the next few weeks. “On top of this abnormal influx of shipping there is a demand for the rail transport of coal, cement and grain, and a heavy backlog is building up. “To date, Inward shipping has had priority, but it is obvious that this cannot be allowed to continue to the extent that every railway waggon is held under load Staff’s Long Hours “Our goods shed staff in Christchurch are working from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays. 7 a.m to 5 p.m Fridays. 8 a m to noon on Saturdays, and eight hours on Sundays. The staff is augmented in the evenings and at week-ends The men are doing a magnificent job of work No-one could ask them to work longer hours—the work is heavy and the mffn are tiring and they become justifiably irritable if unwarranted sniping is directed at them “Floor space in our sheds is not a bottle-neck, but labour is. We could employ another 40 men to advantage, but labour is just unobtainable. “The Christchurch carriers are giving excellent service in clearing sorted goods from the floor of the sheds “The position, as I see it, is that the inward shipping freight is passing out of the ships into the railway wag-

gons at a greater rate than it can be sorted and delivered with the present labour force. “This morning’s paper carries a suggestion from the Lyttelton Harbour Board that road transport be engaged to carry goods to a covered place such as the Army barracks If road traffic is utilised in that way, it cannot, in my opinion, continue to clear the sheds and deliver to warehouses. “We in the railways are doing our utmost, but the time has arrived where we must reduce the number of waggons under load to enable us to give waggons not only to inward shipping, but to the cartage of coal, cement, and wheat. The department itself requires a continuing supply of coal to keep its South Island system working. At the moment we have allowed our departmental coal stocks to stand as low as a fortnight’s supply—about 6000 tons —and we cannot go lower than that. “We have had 1200 waggons under load in Christchurch before, but on previous occasions the forward position has shown earlier signs of relief than at present. "The position is serious, but it is no time for panic action.” Use of Lorries The meeting examined the Harbour Board suggestion to employ road transport to cart cargoes to the King Edward barracks, but it was generally agreed that, while a few vehicles could be diverted to this work, the carriers, by and large, were fully employed in taking cargoes from the sheds to the warehouses. Mr A. J. Sowden, a representative of the board at the meeting,- suggested that the Army might assist with trucks and labour, but the carriers were confident that they could handle the situation if warehouses were open to receive goods at evenings and weekends, which, they said, would double the carrying potential of their fleet. Several speakers, including representatives of the Carriers’ Association, the Port Employers’ Association, the Manufacturers’ Association, and the Waterfront Commission, asked for the re-e-tablishment of the Lyttelton cargo control committee—a committee originally set up in the Second World War and abolished nearly 10 years ago. Another point raised was that imports were heavier than normal at this time of year because the importlicensing year coincided with the calendar year, and this was the first quarter. Several members spoke in favour of having the end of the licensing year changed to some other quarter. Mr Gandell said that while both of these matters were outside his immediate sphere, on his return to Wellington he would "certainly convey the meeting’s suggestions to the Government for further consideration.” No official representatives of the Warehousemen’s Association were at the meeting, but

the members from the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers’ Association agreed to approach the warehousemen with a view to opening evenings and weekends. Mr Gandell said he would make every endeavour to have 40 extra men in the sheds, and would arrange for the sheds to be open for delivery on Fridays as well as other evenings and all day Saturdays and Sundays until the position was righted. Inquiries by “The Press” among city carriers and warehousemen revealed many difficulties in the proposal to open warehouses outside normal hours. Usually, warehouses open only by arrangement with the carriers, generally to receive a considerable shipment addressed to the one company. If all warehouses are to open for half or whole days outside regular hours, the staffs are likely to be idle for a considerable part of the time, while being paid at overtime rates. For this reason, the carriers will probably be able to deliver only large consignments. Moreover, some of the staffs of both the the warehouses and the carriers may be unwilling to work overtime.