Truck turnaround times at DP World's West Swanson terminal in Melbourne have stretched beyond three hours, and the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) says importers are waiting until Day 4 or Day 5 after discharge to collect containers as landside congestion bites before peak season volumes have even arrived.

The CTAA first flagged the problem in mid-August 2026, when truck turn times at the terminal ran to 2-3 hours and the terminal struggled to handle rising throughput. "If we are already struggling with delays and inefficiencies now, what's it going to look like then?" the alliance asked at the time.

The answer has arrived. In a statement, the CTAA said "further significant landside performance delays have caused havoc for container transport operators and their freight forwarder and import / export customers." Transport operators cannot secure enough booking slots in the terminal's Vehicle Booking System (VBS) to meet customer demand, and export containers risk missing vessel cut-off times.

Detention disputes add to the cost

The commercial fallout extends beyond the terminal gate. Shipping lines continue to levy detention charges on late returns of empty containers, even though the delays originate with their own terminal service provider, DP World. "The flow on impacts in the supply chain are numerous, including arguments about who is responsible to pay container detention bills levied by shipping lines for the late return of empty containers, despite the Shipping Lines' terminal service provider (DP World) being the source of the operational delays," the CTAA said.

For road operators, the direct costs are stacking up: revised transport schedules, additional driver labour, container staging and extra lifts beyond the port, and VBS slots missed at other Melbourne terminals because trucks are stuck at West Swanson.

DP World cites "unexpected labour shortages"

DP World has responded that delays last weekend stemmed from "unexpected labour shortages" and that it is working with road carriers to "facilitate the import and export requirements." The operator has waived all associated penalty fees and pledged to "waive storage or extend free time for import units as needed." In the short term, the terminal will prioritise meeting export service cut-off times and bring in additional labour resources.

The CTAA acknowledged that on 29 September the OneStop VBS messaging service confirmed the waiver of all no-show and wrong time zone penalties. But the alliance argues that waiving penalties does not compensate transport operators for the added cost of the delays themselves.

Peak season pressure and a political warning

Neil Chambers, Director of the CTAA, said the window for a soft landing has closed. "On behalf of CTAA Alliance companies, we have commented previously that the Port of Melbourne hasn't yet hit peak season volumes. However, the peak is now upon us and volumes are likely to be elevated over the coming weeks!" he said. "We sincerely hope that DP World allocates enough labour and machine time to adequately service the increased landside volumes through the Terminal."

The CTAA wants better peak season planning and will look to the Port of Melbourne and Freight Victoria, within the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), to broker discussions among container logistics stakeholders in the coming weeks.

The alliance has also fired a political warning shot. Unlike New South Wales, Victoria has no mechanism to penalise terminal operators for failing landside performance standards. Transport operators "expect and deserve better service," the CTAA said. "If not, it might be time for CTAA to mount a campaign following the outcome of the Victorian State Election in November for the implementation of mandatory performance standards in the container logistics terminal interface similar to the legislation that exists in NSW."

With peak season volumes now building, forwarders and importers routing cargo through West Swanson should brace for continued collection delays and factor detention and demurrage exposure into their Victorian supply chains until DP World's additional labour translates into measurable turn-time recovery.