Sydney’s Wharf Owners Display Their Arrogance
By Bat | March 30, 2007
The purveyors of Sydney’s waterfront stevedoring activities (i.e., the companies that operate the stevedoring activities at the wharves, NOT the wharfies themselves) have released their working arrangements for the Easter holiday weekend.
In a stunning display of unadulterated arrogance and abuse of power, they have decided that they will be charging storage on uncollected containers on days when the wharves are not open for business. By way of background information, let me make a few salient points so that readers are better able to understand what I’m prattling on about.
Sydney has suffered under a duopoly of wharf stevedore companies for many years. As a result of the complete lack of any real competition the two stevedoring companies could be said to be colluding in the way they operate and set their policies and charges. It seems that no sooner has one of them decided on a new policy or charge, than the other follows suit. Long gone are the days when the wharves made allowance for the Australian working week and the fact that most company’s warehouses are closed on weekends. The attitude of the stevedores is, generally, “we work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so importers and exporters should change their work practices to meet our schedules.” What this means is that the wharves now count Saturdays as part of the “normal” working week when calculating the free period of container availability before storage charges are levied. The wharves only allow 3 free days from time of declared availability, so if Saturdays are part of the 3 free day allowance long weekends often mean it is impossible for containers to be removed from the wharf before storage charges commence. The alternative is for the container to be collected on a weekend and thus incurring the additional costs of overtime and penalty rates from the transport company. Either way, the importer ends up with additional costs which, of course, are passed on to the consumer.
To add insult to injury, the stevedores have decided that Good Friday is an official “non-work” day (like Sundays) and they will not deliver or receive containers on that day. However, they will still include this day when calculating any storage charges that might be applicable, even though they weren’t there to deliver the container to the importer! So, if you are importing a container, and the last day of free time is the Thursday before Easter then you can expect storage charges to start on Good Friday and the charges will include Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday.
Am I wrong in thinking that charging storage on a day when they aren’t there is akin to “highway robbery”? And there I was thinking Ned Kelly was dead…..
As if this arrogance isn’t bad enough, the wharf stevedores have taken this stance despite the fact there is currently an investigation underway (and has been for the last 2 years) into the operating and charging practices of the wharf stevedores. This investigation, started by the Container Logistics Action Group (CLAG), has received initial favourable consideration by the Independent Pricing And Remuneration Tribunal (IPART) who have stated that they believe there is a case to be answered and are investigating further. It seems the stevedores don’t give a stuff and think they can just do as they please when it comes to their pricing and charging policies and operating procedures. This is hardly surprising though when one considers the amounts of money we are talking about. In the last financial year, the amount of revenue generated from wharf storage was in the order of some AUD40 million. This is pure revenue - there is absolutely no cost to the stevedores in generating this revenue stream (mind you, they would no doubt point to the fact that the container is taking up space on the wharf that could be used for other containers, and they have to manouevre around it, and whatever other spurious justifications they can think up - the fact of the matter is that there is quite enough space, and the container is most likely “block-stacked” somewhere at the bottom of a pile of containers anyway).
So this is nothing more than pure greed, especially when the storage rates along the lines of AUD 130.00 per day for a 20ft container are taken into consideration. It beggars belief that they can arrive at a figure of that magnitude when it costs nothing to have the container sitting on the wharf (most likely at the back of the wharf in a stack of other containers suffering a similar fate).
The sooner these companies are brought to account and made to be more reasonable with their operating practices and charging policies, the better it will be for our economy.
Topics: International Trade | 4 Comments »
Joke Number 4
By Bat | March 29, 2007
This one turned up in my e-mail inbox this morning, courtesy of a work colleague. It’s a reverse “blonde” joke - kind of “blondes fight back” :-). Enjoy!
Bubba and Junior were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up. A blonde lady walked by and asked what they were doing.
“We’re supposed to find the height of the flagpole,” said Bubba, “But we don’t have a ladder.”
The blonde woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down. Then she took a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement and announced, “Eighteen feet, six inches,” and walked away.
Junior shook his head and laughed. “Ain’t that just like a dumb blonde? We ask for the height and she gives us the length!”
Bubba and Junior are currently supervising the reconstruction of New Orleans.
Topics: Humour | 1 Comment »
Joke Number 3
By Bat | January 23, 2007
This one surfaced in my e-mail inbox today, forwarded from someone who forwarded it from someone who forwarded it… well, you get the idea 
Thanks go to the unknown contributor.
Billy was at school this morning and the teacher asked all the children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came out, fireman, policeman, salesman, chippy, captain of industry etc, but Billy was being uncharacteristically quiet and so the teacher asked him about his father.
“My father is an exotic dancer in a gay club and takes off all his clothes in front of other men. Sometimes if the offer is really good, he’ll go out with a man, rent a cheap hotel room and let them sleep with him.”
The teacher quickly set the other children some work and took little Billy aside to ask him if that was really true.
“No” said Billy, “He plays cricket for England but I was just too embarrassed to say.”
Topics: Humour | 1 Comment »
P-Plate Gabfest
By Bat | January 9, 2007
Will anything of substance come from the current gabfest on what to do about our P-plate drivers?
I’m predicting we’ll simply see a range of draconian rules instituted that will prove of little value. Why? Because there’s no point having rules if you don’t have the “referees” to see that they are being obeyed. In this case, I use the term “referee” to mean police. One of the surest ways of making sure that drivers adhere to the road rules is to have a highly visible police presence actually on the roads.
We don’t need more rules for these new and inexperienced drivers - they’ve already got enough to learn and think about. What is needed is better education (both in attitude to driving and actual driving skills). This, combined with a more visible police presence, will do far more than trying to legislate a solution to the problem by creating even more road rules.
The current NSW Government seems to think that by cutting spending and reducing the police force’s manpower and using static speed cameras instead is good management. How wrong they are! This is a very good example of what happens when a Government tries to do too much with it’s resources and tries to run everything on shoestring budgets.
In my opinion, the NSW Government should make spending money on infrastructure an absolute priority, and put the minority projects back in their rightful places at the bottom of the “have to be done” list. Public funds should be giving priority to health (hospitals, etc), schools, public transport/roads and our police force. The NSW police force has been shrinking for a number of years now, and it needs a drastic increase in numbers (i.e., we need hundreds of officers added to the force) just to get back to the level it was 5 years ago, and more still to get it to the appropriate ratio for our population level.
If ever there was a case of “Nero fiddling while Rome burns” one only has to look at what the NSW Government is doing.
Might I suggest that the two Ministers responsible for police, roads and transport issues in NSW (Mr Eric “Bus Lane” Roozendaal, and Mr John Watkins) get together and work out the priorities of their respective Ministries, and then go to their Premier, Mr Morris Iemma with a co-ordinated plan.
In fact, perhaps Mr Iemma, as the Minister for State Development, needs to demonstrate some real leadership by making some hard decisions on spending priorities and then start cracking a few of his Ministers’ heads together to make them wake up to reality.
Topics: Politically Inclined | 2 Comments »
2006/2007 Ashes Cricket Test Series
By Bat | January 5, 2007
At 12.18 pm today, Australia continued their dominance of world cricket by defeating England with ten wickets in hand to complete a 5 - 0 series “whitewash” in this years Ashes cricket series.
What can be said about a team that has won their last 12 (that’s TWELVE) Tests in a row? No doubt there will be cricket afficianados and commentators with far more knowledge about the game and it’s history than I possess that will be able to deliver fitting tributes to the Australian Test cricket team of 2006/2007. However, as a proud Australian I would like to congratulate the team on a brilliant series. They never let up, and even when they knew England were on the ropes, the Australians kept the pressure on. Their demolition of the English cricket team and it’s attempt to defend and retain the Ashes trophy they so narrowly won in 2005 has been a marvel to watch and a demonstration of the awesome professionalism of the Australians.
Can I wrap it up with a piece of true Aussie vernacular? I hope so.
To the Australian cricket team, their coaches and their management - “Strewth, you blokes are bewdies”
Bring on the One Day Internationals… C’mon Aussie, c’mon, c’mon….
Topics: Sports | No Comments »
2006/2007 Ashes Cricket Test Series
By Bat | January 1, 2007
Tuesday, January 2, 2007, marks the start of a tremendously important game for both the Australian and English cricket teams.
The Australian team, stinging from the loss of the Ashes series in England in 2005, is after a 5 - 0 whitewash of the English team to wipe out the pain of the loss the Ashes and to show that they are still the premier cricket team that the rest of the cricketing world has to try to catch up to. It’s also important because 4 of the senior members of the team have announced their retirements and this represents the last test they will play for their country on home soil. Whilst many of the pundits predicted Australian cricket was being caught up to by the rest of the world at the end of 2005, the Australian team have simply “shifted gear” and raised the level of their play yet again as if to say to the rest of the world “Come on, we aren’t done yet. If you want our place, then you’ll have to fight bloody hard to take it.”
The English team, on the other hand, are looking to avoid the embarrassment of losing the Ashes 0 - 5 just 12 months after they won them. They are looking to retain some smidgeon of the pride they gained when they won the series on home soil in 2005.
It seems to me the only hope the English team have of avoiding a whitewash lies in the weather forecast for Sydney over the next week. Although, given the way the English team have capitulated in the previous games of the series, I reckon it would take 4 days of rain to give the English any chance of avoiding a whitewash.
C’mon Aussie, c’mon, c’mon…..
Topics: Sports | 1 Comment »
Merry Christmas to everyone
By Bat | December 19, 2006
Ok, so it’s my first Christmas with a blog. Please don’t hang me for being so trite and mundane as to do what I expect nearly every other blogger has done/is doing - wishing their readers a Merry Christmas.
To me, the Christmas/New Year season is a time to reflect on the year just past, and enjoy time with one’s family members. For many this is not easy, a fact I know from personal experience. Nevertheless, I believe this is the one time of the year where we should make the effort to go that little bit further to show our family, friends, and even people we don’t know, that we aren’t all arseholes or Scrooges (you, in the back row, was that a “Bahh, humbug!” I just heard?).
I care not what your religious background and beliefs may be. You are as entitled to them as I am to mine. I do believe, however, that NO religion intends to inflict pain or suffering on any member of the human race, nor for that matter members of the other species that inhabit this fragile little world of ours. It is mankind that creates wars and conflict in the name of religion, not religion itself. Sadly, it seems the only way we can protect ourselves from people with tyrannical and megalomaniacal tendencies is to fight back, and defend our way of life. What brings these people to want to cause such trouble? Intolerance for their fellow man, for one thing. Warped views of societal structures other than their own, for another.
Whatever the cause, why can’t they just learn to live in peace with the rest of the world, and learn to tolerate, indeed rejoice in, the many variations of humankind and our society?
To all those that perchance come across my humble blog, I wish everyone of you a peaceful and joyous Christmas season (whether you believe in that particular religious system or not) and success and prosperity in your endeavours in 2007.
Bat
Topics: Randomness | 3 Comments »
Joke Number 2
By Bat | December 14, 2006
I received this one from a client. It’s another “Blonde” joke, which I normally wouldn’t post (my wife is blonde, and dispels the “dumb blonde” myth, although she does sometimes use the myth to her advantage, like the time she got the better of a used car salesman about 6 months ago and got a fantastic deal on a replacement for a troublesome Peugeot).
Blonde Parks Car In Snow
Norman and his blonde wife live in Calgary, Canada. One winter morning while listening to the radio, they hear the announcer say, “We are going to have 8 to 10 centimeters of snow today. You must park your car on the even numbered side of the street, so the snowplough can get through.” Norman’s wife goes out and moves her car.
A week later while they are eating breakfast, the radio announcer says, “We are expecting 10 to 12 centimeters of snow today. You must park your car on the odd numbered side of the street, so the snowplough can get through.” Norman’s wife goes out and moves her car again.
The next week they are having breakfast again, when the radio announcer says “We are expecting 12 to 14 centimeters of snow today. You must park……….. ” then the electric power goes out. Norman’s wife is very upset, and with a worried look on her face she says, “Honey, I don’t know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snowplough can get through?”
With the love and understanding in his voice like all men who are married to Blondes exhibit, Norman smiles and says in a gentle tone, “Why don’t you just leave it in the garage this time?”
Topics: Humour | No Comments »
2006/2007 Ashes Cricket Test Series
By Bat | December 14, 2006
Game 3 of the Ashes series begins at the WACA in Perth today.
Can the English cricket team do anything to restore their battered confidence and pride? They face an enormous task to retain the Ashes trophy. They must win at least 2 of the next three games, and do no worse than a draw in the third. Given the way they threw victory away in the Second Test in Adelaide, I wouldn’t be putting my money on them.
In a way, I’d like to see them put up a bit of a fight to keep the series alive. However, as a true blue Aussie, I want to see our team continue to crush the “old foe”. The English win in the previous Ashes Series in England certainly seems to have sparked renewed interest from Australian spectators. I get the feeling this interest is more than likely a desire to watch the Australian team avenge the loss of the previous series.
I can hear the chorus already……. “C’mon Aussie, c’mon, c’mon ….
Topics: Sports | No Comments »
2006 V8 Supercar Series is done & won
By Bat | December 13, 2006
Congratulations to Holden driver Rick Kelly on finishing as winner of the 2006 series, narrowly outscoring Ford driver Craig Lowndes. The two drivers were so closely matched that at the start of the last race they both started on the second row of the grid, with equal points in hand.
Ford supporters are bemoaning a racing incident that saw Lowndes’ car suffer damage that severely affected the performance of his vehicle. The incident involved Kelly, who was given a “drive-through” penalty as a result of that involvement. Kelly did not suffer any significant damage to his vehicle and was able to make up enough lost ground to finish well ahead of Lowndes. Kelly finished 18th in the last race, and Lowndes finished in 29th place. As Kelly remarked, it wasn’t the best possible way to achieve the prize but it showed how his season of consistently finishing races rather than risking a “DNF” in pursuit of a win in each race of each round was the way to win the series.
To all my fellow Holden supporters I say “Go Team Red” in 2007!!
To all the Ford supporters, especially those complaining about Kelly’s win, I just want to raise two points for you to consider. Firstly, Kelly isn’t the first driver to employ the tactic of consistent high place finishes to win the series – Ford driver Russell Ingall used the same tactic to win the 2005 series. Secondly, stop whining about Kelly’s alleged driving tactics in the last race that you claim took Lowndes out of the race. I’ve seen the footage of the incident and it was nowhere near as bad as Russell Ingall’s infamous Eastern Creek incident with Mark Skaife in 2004. Thirdly (ok, so I thought of something else while writing the other two points – so sue me), Ford teams have (with financial assistance from corporate Ford Australia) a habit of poaching drivers from Holden teams – both Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall “cut their teeth” in high profile Holden teams. Seems Ford find it difficult to develop their own drivers, and when they do the driver leaves (remember Marcus Ambrose?)……
Topics: Sports | No Comments »