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Patrick Terminals - Landside Charges Increases: 6 March 2023

On 5 January 2023, Patrick Terminals issued a Notice of Intention to change its Landside & Ancillary Charges effective from 6 March 2023.

A copy of the Notice can be downloaded: HERE

The Notices for individual Patrick Terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle are also available on the Patrick e-Link website @ https://patrick.com.au/customer-info/

The Notice of Intention is issued 60-days in advance of implementation in accordance with the Victorian Government's Voluntary Pricing Protocol and the National Voluntary Guidelines for landside stevedore charges.

Key observations from the Notice:

• Patrick says it is embarking on a significant investment program with $220 million invested across the past three years and a further $80 million committed in the year ahead ($300 million in total), which will support continued efficient landside service levels.
  
  Patrick is engaging with container transport operators and other landside stakeholders on these investments and landside productivity improvements through its Landside Efficiency Groups established late last year - see section below for further details.
  
  

• While Patrick's Terminal Access Charges (TAC) for full import containers are increasing in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane by 9.72%, the TACs for full export containers in those Ports will rise by between 17.03% to 33.86%.
  
  This represents a "re-balancing" by Patrick of the differential between full import and full export TACs first introduced in 2019. Effectively, the differential has been set at approx. 25% (i.e. export TACs are 25% less than the import TACs in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane).
  
  

• The TACs for full imports and full exports in Fremantle are due to rise by a lesser amount than in the east-coast terminals - i.e. by 6.67%. This is due to agreements entered into between Patrick and Fremantle Ports in their new Fremantle Terminal lease on the allowable quantum of landside terminal access fee increases. The differential in Fremantle between the TACs for full import and full export containers remains at 100%.
  
  

• Vehicle Booking System (VBS) related fees are generally set to rise by between 9.70% to 9.90% in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane. However, in Fremantle, the VBS booking fee is earmarked to rise by 30.08%, as is the Stack / Bulk Run Fee.
  
  CTAA presumes that this higher percentage increase is occurring because Patrick is limited in its TAC increases by its leasehold agreements and is looking to offset its landside investments in the Fremantle Terminal through revenue contributions from a higher VBS booking fee.

CTAA has produced a Comparison Table of selected Patrick landside fee increases, including the proposed percentage increases from 6 March 2023. This comparison table is available only to subscribing CTAA Alliance companies. Please email neil.chambers@ctaction.com.au to request a copy of the comparison table.

Notice of Intention Feedback:

In accordance with the voluntary pricing protocols, Patrick is inviting feedback on its proposed landside fee increases by 27 January 2023 prior to the release of a Final Notice on 3 February 2023.

Feedback on the intended changes to the Landside and Ancillary Charges this can be provided to Landside23@patrick.com.au.

CTAA intends to submit views on behalf of our Alliance companies, including about:

• No justification for an increase in the No-Show and Wrong Time Zone Fees. The existing fees are already considered to be at a penalty level that is excessive compared to the small percentage of "no-shows" incurred by transport operators.
  
  Any increase will do little to entice better "transport "behaviour" as transport companies are already doing all possible to avoid no-show events. Would be better to consider an alternative system of performance review conducted over a longer periodic timeframe. This could involve a "demerit points" system applicable to transport operators and stevedores alike.
  
  

• Reconsideration of the Long Vehicle Fee in Brisbane and Sydney. The Fee is counter to the objective of reducing the number of heavy vehicles required to complete the given freight task, and also acts as an unnecessary disincentive to improve two-way truck loading maximising the efficient movement of TEU per vehicle accessing the Terminal.
  
  

• Continued concern from transport operators that the Weight Amendment Fee for import containers found to be +/- one tonne different from the Verified Gross Weight (VGM) should not be levied to them. The Fee should be directed to the shipping line, who in turn can pass on the penalty to their cargo interest customers who are responsible for an accurate gross weight declaration at the port of origin.

  
  

  In the case of import containers, the container has already been shipped by sea in a "mis-declared" state (potentially impacting on ship safety), and the transport operator in the Australian port has nothing to do with the original declaration of weight made at the time of loading in the port of origin.
  
  

• The need for discretion in applying the Mis-Declaration Fee - Vehicle and Trailer Combination. A conversation should be had with the transport operator prior to applying the Fee as simple mistakes can be made in declaring the accurate trailer type when manifesting trucks into terminals if transport management systems normally identify prime mover / trailer combinations automatically.
  
  To the greatest extent possible, the Fee should be applied only in cases where there is a reasonable suspicion of deliberate intent on the part of the transport operator to mis-declare the trailer type.

Patrick Landside Efficiency Groups:

Patrick Melbourne Terminal Landside Efficiency Group meeting - 22 December 2022

Patrick has recently commenced, on a voluntary and industry-led basis, the publication of landside performance metrics for each of its terminals and the establishment of representative landside efficiency groups.

The purpose of the stakeholder groups is to develop solutions which support landside performance and efficient terminal operations and to provide information about Patrick's landside investment program.

CTAA Alliance transport companies have been invited by Patrick to be represented on these Efficiency Groups, and CTAA has a seat at the table at each Group meeting to maintain representative continuity.

In late November, CTAA congratulated Patrick for establishing these initiatives voluntarily, and the inaugural Group meetings were held in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle in late 2022.

Key issues and themes emerging from the initial consultations include:

• Initiatives to improve the "two-way loading" of trucks (as the percentage is currently low in all Terminals).
  
  

• Progressive VBS slot release and improved visibility of grounded import containers available for collection - enhancements to rely less on the "mad minute" for slot-drop allocations.
  
  

• Dual stack run capability (full and empty) enhancements to the VBS (important to address truck two-way loading performance).
  
  

• Automated Truck Handling (ATH) enhancements in the Brisbane and Sydney Autostrad Terminals to reduce the need for human intervention in loading import containers, leading to faster container & truck turnaround times.
  
  

• Improved truck grid allocations as a result of ATH.
  
  

• Gate system upgrades in Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle.
  
  

• Sydney Auto-Rail operations - rail capacity improvements by 30% / more rail windows, and new truck grid developments as phase two of the auto-rail project progresses.
  
  

• Enhancements to Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) devices.
  
  

• Melbourne - Straddle twin-lift capability enhancements (starting with empties before progressing to full containers). Also, pavement strengthening, IT upgrades, and the development of the Patrick Melbourne Terminal on-dock rail capability.
  
  

• Fremantle - significant Terminal upgrade / re-configuration investments, including reefer handling and plug-in capacity, and automated truck access developments.