Many container truck drivers have to struggle to find private parking lots and gas stations along National Highway 1 because the functional forces recommend turning the vehicle around - Photo: HA QUAN

On the morning of February 13, even though it was raining and cold, many convoys of container trucks still followed each other to the border gates of Lang Son province. Along National Highway 1 towards Huu Nghi international border gate (Dong Dang, Lang Son), the traffic police instructed many container trucks to turn around because the parking lot near the border gate was no longer available.

Driver "frustrated"

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Vy (driver from Ho Chi Minh City) shared that although he knew that Huu Nghi border gate was congested, he still delivered 30 tons of mangoes because of a contract with the owner. With more than 80 million expenses, including goods, fuel, driver's salary, etc., Mr. Vy hopes to finish the delivery soon.

"Normally, it only takes 7-10 days to complete the delivery of goods, but now we still have to go to the transshipment yard, then go to Xuan Cuong parking lot (Huu Nghi border gate area) to export to China. Once there, there is a wharf. beach, sanitation, eating... The sun is good, it's rainy, the beach is muddy, difficult to travel.

Salary is 12 million VND/trip, so I have to calculate everything. Now lying here, I don't know the departure date, the salary for the trip is definitely slow, it's raining and cold, the parking fee, the car oil is at least 700,000 VND / day," Vy said.

Following a convoy of more than 20 container trucks from the South to Lang Son,  driver Tin (29 years old, hometown of Quang Ngai) and his assistant Dung (25 years old, hometown of Quang Binh) gathered together to cook sour fish soup. Mr. Tin said that due to cold weather, high wind, broken gas stove, Mr. Dung had to borrow a new mini gas stove. " Losing more money on the gas stove," said Mr. Hacker, then grabbed a knife to add vegetables and pineapple for the fish soup.  

Tin and Dung's "field" soup pot is right under the container truck in the cold 8 degrees Celsius

Mr. Tin confided: "Before Tet, I drove a dragon fruit car, but I couldn't go for a month and a half, so I turned back to Nam Dinh to sell at a loss. I personally lost 20 million dong on that trip. This time I went with my friend Dung, so I had to calculate it. The extra cost of eating and drinking for the sake of the two brothers is only 10 million dong."

It was past noon, the pot of sour fish soup had just boiled, and Mr. Tin and the other drivers had just started lunch. For drivers, they just hope that the border gate will soon receive more cars to shorten the trip, drive more trips to earn income to cover their lives.

Businesses suffer because of contracts

Talking to  Tuoi Tre Online , Major Hoang Quang Duy, deputy captain of the Road Traffic Police Team No. 1 (Lang Son Police), said: "The clearance capacity is only 70-80 vehicles/day, but there are On receipt of 200 trucks of fresh fruit, we guided the container driver who came here to find a parking lot outside.

We also actively use loudspeakers to remind drivers not to park on the street and to go to private parking lots and gas stations to park instead of rushing to the transit yard before entering the border gate. When it's dry, the transit yard can accommodate 1,000 vehicles, but when it rains, the whole yard is a large body of water, so it can only accommodate 600-700 vehicles. The parking lot has fewer cars, making it more difficult for drivers."

A temporary container yard next to Highway 1

According to Mr. Ha - a representative of an import-export company, in recent days his company has imported about 100 container trucks, while exporting has encountered a traffic jam. Particularly at Huu Nghi border gate (Lang Son), fruit goods such as jackfruit, dragon fruit, longan ... currently encounter traffic jams and take 10-15 days to bring a car to China.

The reason is that the driver who received the task of driving the car from Xuan Cuong parking lot (near Huu Nghi - PV border gate) to the Chinese side had returned to celebrate Tet and did it again (about 20-30 people); the company's inventory of vehicles at the border gate is nearly 400 vehicles; Huu Nghi border gate transshipment yard has hundreds of vehicles... While the number of vehicles accepted by China is only 60-80 vehicles/day for all companies.

"I depend on China, as much as they receive, I give as much. Since the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese side closed at 6pm, before that, it was very late.

Some items still have to be cleared at Huu Nghi border gate due to convenience and customers' requirements in the contract. Some customers tried to find other border gates like Mong Cai border gate (Quang Ninh) but it didn't work," Ha shared.

According to him, the container truck stays at the transshipment yard for 4 days, then takes another 3-4 days at the border gate to export to China. There are cars that have lost hundreds of millions of dong.

The fare from Bac Ninh to Lang Son is about 8-10 million VND, but if you save the car at the wharf, start the generator up to hundreds of millions. The company suffered because the person in charge did not negotiate at that time. In addition, there is a ticket to the wharf (4-5 million VND), money to wait at the beach...