Analysis of the Inland Container Deports Operation in Tanzania: Service Quality and Challenges Perspective

Abstract

The study examines the extent under which the operation of Inland container deports (ICDs) in Tanzania meet the required international standards. Specifically the focus was to examine to what extent ICDs relieve port terminals, reduce port container dwell time, reduce ship turnaround time and improve port service quality in cargo clearance. The challenges which came with the operationalization of ICDs for future improvements of the ports are presented in detail. Both secondary data and primary data were collected for enabling the examination to be fulfilled. The study revealed that there is high improvement in terminal space, dwell time and ship turnaround time due to the introduction of ICDs in the country. The container storage space improved from 40% to 90%, container dwell time from 25 days in 2007 to 6 days in 2015 and ship turnaround time from 21 days in 2007 to 4 days in 2015. All these improvements have been happening while container traffic has been increasing. Traffic increased from 32000 TEUs in year 2007 to 58000 TEUs in year 2015 (SUMATRA, 2016). Further, the study reveals some challenges required to be overcome. The challenges are licensing, logistics, location, regulations and quality of service.