LONDON: Hauliers are reporting more long delays this week getting freight out of the Port of Liverpool with port owner Peel admitting it was dealing with “unprecedented” volumes of cargo.
Earlier this month, the ECHO received a tip-off from one haulier that more than 100 lorries were queuing at the Seaforth terminal and having to wait several hours to pick up loads.
On that occasion, Peel blamed the “extreme congestion” on a combination of the long Easter Bank Holiday weekend and late-arriving vessels and opened the port for longer hours to clear the backlog.
However, there have been more delays this week and the ECHO has been contacted by more than one haulage firm claiming the problem was severely impacting on their businesses.
One said: “It is taking between two-and-a-half to three hours to get loads out of the port. We usually expect to do three loads a day but with these kind of delays we can maybe only do one.“That is costing us money and it could put us out of business.”
Another haulier claimed that, at one point this week, lorries were being refused access to the port and were having to wait in a side street.
He said: “Nothing has changed trucks are now being refused entry to port. We are having to park in Side Street in Bootle without toilet and washing facilities.”In a statement, Peel said it was working to get the backlog cleared.
The company said: “Unprecedented container volumes have caused, on occasion, some delays to our container operation during peak times.
“We are working to resolve the situation for hauliers and we have opened the port for an extra seven hours for the past two weeks between Sunday night and Monday morning.
“We will continue to operate extended hours to manage traffic volumes and allow hauliers to collect containers quickly and efficiently.”
