Air India's Chennai warehouse clogged with cargo backlog

AIR FREIGHT is said to be piling up at Air India's export warehouse at the old airport in Chennai.

There have been reports of 76 trucks laden with cargo intended for export, ranging from electronic components to perishable vegetables, having to return without being unloaded. The warehouse also has not been accepting all fresh consignments because pending cargo had not been cleared. This has slowed down cargo bookings, reports the Times of India.

The process is being slowed by a lack of personnel to handle consignments that are offloaded as well as by a shortage of personnel to scan them.

The warehouse of Air India, which handles export cargo for Singapore Airlines, Air Arabia, Kuwait Airways, Saudi, Gulf Air and Oman Air, can handle 200 trucks a day. "Over 100 arrive each day but just 60 manage to unload their ware. The rest are often turned back," the report said.

"Air India's security personnel who are authorised to conduct the scanning on the four scanners come for work only in the evenings. So, there is hardly any movement of cargo in the mornings and afternoons. The cargo that piles up for scanning often prevents unloading of fresh consignments," an unidentified clearing agent was quoted as saying.

There are just 25 loaders between 1400 hrs and 2300 hrs, and 10 between 1100 hrs and 0600 hrs. The agents have demanded that the number of loaders be increased to 50.

In spite of repeated complaints, "Things have not improved in the last one year," added AV Vijayakumar, secretary of Chennai Custom House Agents Association.
(Source:www.schednet.com)