Shipping & Logistics

Truck waiting time drops at causeway

The road linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

Measures taken by the Bahraini government in recent months seem to be paying off as the waiting time for trucks crossing the border into Saudi Arabia at the vital King Fahad Causeway has dramatically decreased, according to the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The cut in the crossing time was noticed during Ramadan.

Trucks that took three days to get through the bottleneck are now crossing King Fahad Causeway within hours, the daily said in a report.

It first reported on the delays in November 2011 and since then Bahraini authorities have taken several steps to address the issue, including the introduction of a ticketing system, setting up of a truck stop, streamlining procedures and co-ordination with Saudi authorities.

Transport companies and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) officials told the newspaper the reduced waiting times were a result of changes made at the Saudi end of the border.

“There’s no traffic at the causeway, everything is moving smoothly and there are no complications,” Al Wardi Group managing director Turki Al Wardi remarked.

“We wish it was Ramadan all year – we’ve never seen the causeway like this, with this kind of efficiency.

“It looks like when they’re fasting they work more. Before Ramadan it was taking two or three days for trucks to get through, whereas now they move the same day.

“[There aren’t] fewer trucks crossing, they’re just moving them more efficiently.

“I hope that it’s a new system and that it stays like this.

His comments were echoed by Turk Heavy Transport chief executive Khalid Turk.

“There aren’t any problems, things are moving surprisingly smoothly,” he said.

BCCI transportation committee chairman Abdulhakim Al Shemmeri said Saudi customs have been cooperating to reduce waiting times.