KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) expects another few weeks of massive delays in order for Northport to reduce port congestion woes.
"The AMH would like to highlight the seriousness of the above issue which have affected very badly the efficiency and productivity of the movement of import and export boxes in the country.
"The Northport massive congestion issue also created major backlogs and delays in delivering the containers since December 2020 and haulers are the most impacted by this port congestion.
"Though Northport has released a press statement on their immediate and short term counter measures, AMH do foresee another few weeks of massive delays in order for Northport to reduce their own port congestion woes," the association said in a statement today.
AMH said the consequences of these traffic issues resulted in trickling dominoes effect in the lower delivery productivity of hauliers by at least 40 per cent.
"It will also eventually create additional unnecessary charges such as demurrage, storage, SSR (Small Ships Register) and other related charges which will be charged and burdened upon to both customers and also haulers due to the massive compounding daily backlog.
"Besides, it is also estimated that an additional 20 per cent of diesel consumption is expended due to traffic congestion," it said.
AMH said besides that, existing roads are also not properly maintained consistently and potholes are now seen as a normal feature when travelling from Northport to Westport or vice versa.
"This is also our concern as it will involve the issue of safety of all motorists plying this busy route every day.
"Moreover, the industry which is already currently facing serious shortage of drivers has to live with the fact that more drivers are leaving the industry due to all the challenging obstacles compounded at the same time and also because of various other issues affecting the industry," it said.