Time slot restrictions lifted for electric trucks at the Port of Hamburg
HHLA introduced the slot booking system (SBV) in 2017 for container trucks at the busy Port of Hamburg, Germany’s largest seaport by volume, to avoid bottlenecks and ease traffic congestion. This means a slot booking is required for all container transports that are subject to advance notification. Containers arriving without a valid booking cannot be processed.
The system works as follows: If capacity is available at the desired time, the slot for the truck arrival can be booked. Otherwise, the system displays the next available time slot. When a truck arrives, the current time is compared with the booked slot. If the truck arrives on time within the 60-minute slot (tolerance of +/– 30 minutes), processing takes place as scheduled.
If the agreed time slot cannot be adhered to, the slot must be cancelled before arrival. Otherwise, handling cannot be guaranteed and is only possible within the extended tolerance period (+/– a further 60 minutes), provided that capacity allows (priority 2). In the event of a significant time deviation (priority 3), cancellation and rebooking of the slot is mandatory. Slot bookings cannot be made on the terminal premises. Waiting in the terminal car park is also not permitted.
As part of its sustainability strategy, the HHLA port authority is now exempting electric trucks from time slot restrictions. A new category in the slot booking system will allow transport companies to book a slot without being tied to a fixed time window. This means that purely electric trucks can be handled flexibly within the booked day, which the port authority says takes into account the special conditions required for charging electric trucks. The pilot phase will initially only run until mid-2026.
Jens Hansen, Chief Operating Officer at HHLA explained, “By temporarily suspending slot compliance for e-trucks, we are specifically supporting the switch to climate-friendly drive systems. For many years now, the entire HHLA Group has been driving forward the electrification of its equipment across Europe – with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions and offering our customers sustainable, future-oriented solutions.” HHLA aims to be climate-neutral across the group by 2040.
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