Hauliers are finding it increasingly difficult to access Felixstowe's Trinity Terminal during peak hours, due to the sheer weight of demand for slots on its vehicle booking system (VBS).
One haulage firm told IFW that it had lost all confidence in the system and warned that people could be laid off as a result.
He said: "I spent half an hour begging and pleading just to get four bookings."
The port of Felixstowe handles over a million containers, and I'm trying to get four bookings.
"If we can't get in to service the lines, how can it continue?" he asked.
"I don't think the haulage industry has got any confidence in such a system, in whatever shape or form it comes and whether it is at Southampton, Tilbury or Felixstowe."
A spokesman for Hutchison Ports UK, said that while the booking system was "technically working fine", the port was aware of the frustration felt by hauliers who were not always able to book the slots they needed.
"At peak times there may not always be slots available," he said.
The VBS caps the number of vehicles that can enter the port in any one hour at 210.
It also allows firms to book seven days in advance, but stops anyone from block-booking.
Peak periods operate between 6-8am and 2-6pm each day.
The spokesman said: "When it [the VBS] gets fully booked, it's between those periods generally.
"The reason that a VBS was needed in the first place was that in peak periods, more hauliers were arriving than we could physically handle, which obviously led to delays.
"If more than 210 vehicles want to book in any one hour, then they are not all going to be successful."
He argued that the system "gave more certainty" to hauliers over when they would get serviced, but said he appreciated the frustration felt by others.
"Clearly they need to do what they can to deliver the containers where and when their customers want them and I fully understand that.
"It [the VBS] has, overall, reduced the average waiting time.
"We're trying to smooth out the peaks as best we can, to make it more of a 24-hour system.
"We're in the peak period of the year as well, with the run up to Christmas.
"There are more hours that are maxing out at the moment - more than there were earlier in the year."
