Transporters issue 7-day ultimatum over empty container backlog
To alleviate the bottleneck, Kifwa has suggested establishing temporary storage yards in Miritini, Jomvu, and Mazeras, allowing empty containers to be held for up to 120 days.
Kenya’s transport industry is facing a mounting crisis as hundreds of trucks remain stranded with empty containers, preventing them from completing new deliveries.
Transporters and clearing agents have given shipping companies and regulators a strict seven-day deadline to resolve the backlog, threatening to leave containers at shipping line offices if no solution is found.
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The Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) reports that over 500 trucks are immobilised, effectively becoming temporary storage units as depots struggle to handle the excess.
This situation has slowed truck turnaround times, leaving operators unable to earn income or meet loan obligations.
“Our trucks are acting as storage facilities. We cannot deploy them for other work, and our business is no longer viable,” said Newton Wangoo, chairman of the Kenya Transporters Association, as quoted by the Star
“We are ready to drop the containers at the offices of the shipping lines because we must release our trucks.”
Transporters stress that their responsibility ends after delivering cargo and returning empty containers to the depots specified by shipping lines.
However, with depots operating at full capacity, truckers are forced to hold containers for indefinite periods, incurring costs they argue should not fall on them.
Kifwa national secretary Musa Mbira criticised shipping lines for failing to comply with instructions from the government, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), and Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA). He traced the problem to mid-June and warned that it has escalated dangerously as the December peak approaches.
“We are giving notice that in the next seven days, if there’s no positive outcome on the return of containers, we will advise our members to drop the containers directly at the doors of the shipping lines,” he said.
To alleviate the bottleneck, Kifwa has suggested establishing temporary storage yards in Miritini, Jomvu, and Mazeras, allowing empty containers to be held for up to 120 days.
Kifwa national chair Roy Mwanthi noted that while KPA and KRA followed government directives to waive storage and customs warehouse fees for long-stay containers, shipping lines have refused to extend the same concessions.
“Depots are full, trucks are immobile and shipping lines are still penalising agents for delays caused by their own inefficiencies,” Mwanthi said, highlighting a widening logistical crisis that threatens the smooth flow of goods nationwide.
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