Customer perceptions of service delivery : a case study at Transnet Port Terminal, Pier2

Abstract

In 1877 the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) was developed as a container-only terminal. In recent years, investment in the terminal infrastructure at the DCT has increased and now the terminal accounts for 65% of all South Africa’s container imports and exports and is the busiest terminal in Africa. The DCT has easy access to the main road corridor between Durban and Johannesburg, which is South Africa’s greatest economic contributor.

As demand increases, productivity and efficiency become more important, yet the terminal faces its ever unprecedented challenge which is space. A dedicated facility for the staging of container road trucks has been constructed. This facility is designed to eliminate road truck congestion at the entrance roadway to the terminal. The staging area contributes to the quality and speed of productivity in the terminal. At the core of the terminal’s success is its productivity. One of the productivity measures that are closely monitored is Truck Turnaround Time (TTT).

The aim of this study was to analyse customers’ perceptions of service quality delivered at the Durban Container Terminal. The SERVQUAL instrument which is based on fived dimensions, namely reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, empathy and assurance was used to assess customer perception and expectation of service quality. A gap analysis was used to evaluate gaps in terms of service quality delivered at the terminal. A mixed methodological approach was adopted; thus a quantitative and qualitative study was undertaken. The 111 respondents used in the quantitative study were selected using purposive sampling. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data by means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Furthermore, 10 managers from the client base were selected to be interviewed using purposive sampling for the qualitative study. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The data were transcribed and emerging themes identified and presented.

The findings of this study using SERVQUAL illustrate that customer expectations were higher than perception across the entire five service quality dimensions. The results imply that customers were not happy with the level of service being delivered at the terminal on each of the dimensions. With respect to the qualitative study, the

findings show that customers are concerned with the efficiency at the terminal and are not satisfied with the truck turnaround times. Furthermore, the results show that customers are facing challenges in terms of congestion which is compounding problems regarding the waiting time before transporters can access the service. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations have been proposed to close the gaps and ultimately improve service quality so that the terminal is able to achieve customer satisfaction and by implication, improved productivity.