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The Constantinos P docks in Northport with more than 1000 containers to be shipped south later this week. Photo / Supplied
Trucks traveling north have been returned to Auckland after being told that Northport will cease container operations over the weekend.
1,200 shipping containers were unloaded at Northport due to congestion at Auckland ports.
It took eight hundred heavy trucks to start moving them south.
National Road Carriers CEO David Aitken said they were told that trips will not resume until Monday because staff were fatigued and needed to rest.
Aitken said it appears that Northport does not have the resources or facilities to complete the operation efficiently.
“There were at least 30 trucks in the queue at the time they stopped operations, some of them could have received their containers, but the rest would have turned around,” he said.
He said that some of those who turned around will return to Auckland empty.
“We have no way of knowing how many trucks were heading to Whangarei.”
Aitken said it would come at a huge cost to the industry and operations will have to be delayed.
Northport later denied claims that a disruption in operations is due to fatigued personnel, and a spokesperson said the disruption was well communicated and planned.
They said operations will resume at 6 a.m. Monday.
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Earlier in the week, the Waka Kotahi NZ transport agency and police urged motorists to be careful between Whangārei and Auckland, due to the additional volume of trucks on the road.
The first of the trucks left Northport on Friday, with the first of some 1,200 containers that could not be unloaded in Auckland from the ship Constantinos P.
Up to a dozen trucks were expected to leave Marsden Pt every hour from 6 a.m. to midnight for the next week.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency Regional Director Steve Mutton said motorists should plan more time for their trips.
“We expect the roads to be congested before Christmas and there are only a few lane opportunities to overtake on the route. We ask motorists to be patient and give trucks room on the road for the safety of all road users. road.
“There may be delays on SH1 next week, and all drivers need to factor that into their plans. Trying to ‘make up for lost time’ by accelerating and overtaking unsafe puts everyone on the road at risk.”
Despite the volume of trucks, traffic seemed to flow smoothly on Friday.
