«Ukrzaliznytsia» claims that elevators delay returning grain hoppers
According to the representatives of «Ukrzaliznytsia», the port elevators have been unloading grain hoppers for too long. Such a situation has occurred since the beginning of this year, and entailed downtime of grain hoppers as well as the accumulation of a large number of loaded hoppers on the tracks.
Such data was provided by «Ukrzaliznytsia».
During the period from January 1 to January 21, 1.9 million tons of grain were shipped using grain hoppers owned by «Ukrzaliznytsia». The greatest amount of grain is sent to the ports of Odessa and Nikolayev. To date, 4 thousand grain hoppers have been sent to Odessa, which in percentage ratio is 39% of the total number of grain hoppers that belong to «Ukrzaliznytsia».
Therefore, every day on the directions towards the Odessa ports, about 300 grain hoppers remain unloaded. In addition, the unloading is significantly delayed because of a poor-quality grain, which does not meet the sanitary controls requirements. For example, at the Chernomorskaya station 300 grain hoppers, loaded with poor-quality grain, have been detained.
Because of this situation, «Ukrzaliznytsia» is forced to impose bans on loading grain hoppers for terminals that do not return grain hoppers on time. To date, two such prohibitions have already been introduced.
One of the possible reasons for excessive delays of grain trucks at elevators is insufficient working capacity and inefficient use of equipment. The lack of a sufficient number of modern technical means and insufficient automation of the work process lead to delays in loading and unloading grain.
Also, it is important to take into account time restrictions and schedules of movement of grain trucks, which can put additional restrictions on the operation of elevators. In addition, improper planning and coordination between the various links in the logistics chain can also lead to excessive delays.