Not long ago, most deliveries followed a fairly predictable route. Products arrived at a large distribution centre, were stored until needed and then transported to stores or customers across the country.

That model still plays an important role, but changing customer expectations are reshaping the way many businesses think about warehousing.

Today, shoppers expect groceries in under an hour, online orders within a day or two and accurate delivery updates every step of the way. Meeting those expectations isn’t always about driving faster. Increasingly, it’s about storing products closer to where customers already are.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

For years, businesses focused on building large distribution centres that could supply entire regions from a single location. Centralising inventory reduced operating costs and made stock easier to manage.

As online shopping has grown, however, a different challenge has emerged.

Sending every order from one large facility often means longer delivery distances, increased transport costs and less flexibility during busy periods.

That’s why many retailers are complementing their larger distribution centres with smaller fulfilment facilities positioned closer to urban areas.

Speed Starts Inside the Warehouse

Businesses such as Checkers have shown how customer expectations have changed. Services like Sixty60 have raised the bar for grocery deliveries, making rapid order fulfilment part of everyday retail rather than a premium offering.

Behind those deliveries is a network designed for speed. Products are stored closer to customers, picked quickly and dispatched within minutes of an order being placed.

Retailers such as Takealot and Amazon South Africa are also investing in fulfilment networks that shorten the distance between inventory and customers, helping reduce delivery times while improving service levels.

It’s Not About Replacing Large Warehouses

Smaller fulfilment centres aren’t replacing traditional distribution centres.

Instead, they’re becoming another layer within the supply chain.

Large facilities continue receiving bulk stock, managing inventory and supplying regional networks. Smaller urban facilities focus on processing customer orders quickly, allowing businesses to respond to growing demand for faster deliveries without placing unnecessary pressure on their main warehouses.

Each type of facility has a different role, but together they create a more flexible distribution network.

The Warehouse Is Getting Closer

As delivery expectations continue to evolve, businesses are rethinking where inventory should be stored rather than simply how quickly it can be transported.

For many organisations, that means bringing products closer to customers, reducing the distance between an online order and the front door. It’s a reminder that faster deliveries don’t always begin with the truck. More often, they begin with where the warehouse is located in the first place.

The South African Freight and Logistics Association (SAFLA) and the Road Freight Association (RFA) are jointly calling for an immediate, unified recovery plan to restore predictable cargo flow through Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT) after sustained disruption across vessel, yard, system and landside operations.

The record is stark. In July, vessels at DGT averaged some 80 hours at anchorage and 106 at berth. After the mid-August NAVIS N4 cutover, weekly throughput fell 26% and reported terminal waits reached eight to 12 days. Independent monitoring data shows average Durban port call time rising from under five days in late June to more than twelve by late August, and monthly berth calls down from 34 to 19 since May. On the roadside, the time transporters spend in the port precinct per visit has risen by more than half in three months, while Bayhead Road transit times have climbed steadily since January. The whole gateway is slowing.

The cost runs well beyond storage and demurrage: production lines waiting for inputs, emergency airfreight at a multiple of ocean cost, and trucks standing without bookings. In the 2023 logistics crisis, the GAIN Group put the cost of freight-system dysfunction at around R1 billion a day in lost output. Durban is running the same mechanisms again.

International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) assumed operational responsibility for DGT on 1 January 2026 under a 25-year partnership with Transnet, inheriting longstanding infrastructure, yard, road and rail constraints alongside pre-handover investment in 20 new straddle carriers and four ship-to-shore cranes. The question is no longer equipment purchased, but equipment available, reliable and synchronised. The NAVIS N4 transition did not create DGT’s constraints; it compounded them.

Accountability must follow the contracts: cargo owners contract with shipping lines, the lines with the terminal, and Transnet granted the concession under defined performance commitments. Transnet and the shipping lines therefore hold the standing to bring the terminal to account — and neither should pass the cost of disruption down a chain that controls none of it.

“Cargo owners and freight forwarders do not experience the port as separate institutions. They experience one chain,” says David Logan, Executive Officer of SAFLA. “If systems, straddles, slots, gates, roads or rail fail to align, cargo stops. The priority is not institutional blame. It is disciplined recovery, with clear owners, deadlines and one trusted set of numbers.”

“Transporters are carrying this crisis on their balance sheets,” continues Gavin Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of the RFA. “Fleets are standing without bookings while fixed costs run, drivers are queuing on Bayhead Road, and every standing hour ends up in the price of goods. Slot releases must match real capacity, and truck staging must be fast-tracked now. Without trucks, South Africa stops.”

The associations propose a DGT Recovery Compact built on five actions:

1.  One recovery structure — the terminal, Transnet entities, eThekwini, shipping lines, transporters, labour and industry bodies in one daily structure, with government facilitating rather than managing.

2.  A public, 30-day recovery plan — daily targets and one public dashboard: vessel waiting and berth times, crane productivity, equipment availability, system stability, yard utilisation, dwell, truck turnaround, rail evacuation.

3.  Stabilisation of systems, equipment and the yard — NAVIS Hypercare retained until cargo-flow thresholds are sustained, backed by a straddle and crane reliability programme and accelerated evacuation of long-dwell containers.

4.  A coordinated landside plan — appointment releases aligned with real capacity, published slot schedules, reasons for cancellations, disclosure of any preferential access, and fast-tracked truck staging.

5.  Fair commercial treatment — transparent prioritisation of reefers, perishables and critical cargo, and published relief processes for storage, demurrage and detention where delays lay beyond the cargo owner’s control.

The associations acknowledge DGT’s Hypercare support, storage extensions and Radar platform, and the Presidency’s involvement. What is still missing is one consolidated, independently understandable set of performance indicators.

“The Transnet–ICTSI partnership was created to change Durban’s trajectory, and we want it to succeed,” Logan says. “Success will be measured by predictable berthing, productive ship hours, reliable truck access, effective rail evacuation and cargo arriving on time. Durban needs one recovery plan, one set of trusted numbers and shared accountability. Cargo must move — and it must keep moving.”

SAFLA and the RFA stand ready to contribute member evidence and practitioner expertise to a joint recovery task team alongside DGT, Transnet, government and other industry bodies.

RFA Chief Executive Officer Gavin Kelly

SAFLA’s Executive Officer Dave Logan

Africa’s temperature-controlled logistics leaders will strengthen the industry’s shared voice when they gather at the GCCA (Global Cold Chain Alliance) Africa Cold Chain Conference at the Fairway Hotel Resort in Johannesburg, South Africa on September 2-3 2026.

The annual GCCA event is a keenly anticipated feature of the continent’s logistics calendar. It is unique in bringing together third party logistics providers with supply chain partners, customers, politicians and other key stakeholders to address pressing challenges and to discover new opportunities in temperature-controlled logistics.

Conference delegates will join GCCA President & CEO Sara Stickler and GCCA Africa Chairman Dr Newton Matope (CEO of Cold Solutions Kenya) to steer discussions in line with the conference theme, “It’s Time for Dialogue”.

GCCA President & CEO Sara Stickler says: “As Africa’s cold chain navigates ongoing regional and global uncertainty, opportunities to share insights and form new relationships at this year’s GCCA Africa Cold Chain conference are invaluable. So too is the industry’s shared voice, empowering cold chain businesses to help shape Africa’s future at a time when supply chain logistics are evolving in response to regional needs and global change.

“GCCA’s work in Africa has built a new foundation for finding solutions to shared temperature-controlled logistics challenges, for collaborating to access new opportunities, and for advocating for the industry’s needs with governments and key stakeholders. This all starts with two-way dialogue and we look forward to fortifying the shared voice of Africa’s cold chain at the GCCA Africa Cold Chain Conference 2026.”

GCCA will welcome Mohammed Mahomedy, Head of Infrastructure and Rail for Africa at DP World, as the conference’s keynote speaker. He will take to the conference main stage on September 3 to share insights into DP World’s approach to integrated logistics at scale, in practice.

Main stage sessions and panel discussions will be delivered throughout the conference by a high quality rostrum of renowned experts including:

• Chris Hattingh, Executive Director, CRA (Centre for Risk Analysis) onthe business trading climate in Africa and the role of geopolitics
• Dr. Martin Cameron, Managing Director, Trade Research Advisory (Pty) Ltd on how trade policy meets reality
• Dr. Juanita Maree, CEO, SAAFF (Southern African Association of Freight Forwarders) discussing freight forwarding in a new era of dialogue
• Dr Ikechukwu Opara of the University of the Western Cape exploring sustainable food systems
• Cassandra Potteiger, Head of Strategy, Marketing and Communication at SA Harvest on people and partnerships.

Find out more and register to attend at www.gcca.org/events/gcca-african-cold-chain-conference/.