Peterborough, UK: The RHA has warned that British companies have been left unwilling or unable to export to the EU, as half of all trucks returning to Europe via the short straits are doing so empty.
The warning comes after RHA members have reported that disruption caused by new post-Brexit customs processes, as well as coronavirus controls, meant dramatic changes for many UK businesses that are struggling to handle new systems.
RHA chief executive Richard Burnett told the Telegraph: “Between 40 to 50% of trucks going back to Europe through the Dover short straits crossing are carrying nothing but fresh air – normally that level would be 15 to 18%.”
Burnett said that hauliers bringing goods into the UK would normally try to organise loads to take to European destinations for the return journey to make the trip economical.
However, many fear being stuck at the border because of the new mountains of red tape which are now required to take cargo into Europe.
Similarly, concerns over new Covid-19 requirements in countries such as France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, have added an additional hurdle as lorry drivers must present a negative coronavirus test to be allowed into these countries.
UK exporters holding off sending their products because they have been unable to navigate the red tape generated by Brexit have exacerbated the situation.
Burnett also told the Telegraph that the situation could get even worse as volumes of trade pick up and stockpiles run down.
He said that freight handling firms are being swamped with enquiries from customers desperate for help with filling in the new paperwork, but these businesses are already at maximum capacity and unable to take on new clients for several months.
“This is going to seriously affect the UK economy unless some action is taken,” Burnett said.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that road freight between Britain and the EU is down by more than a third year on year. The figures from EU logistics data platform Transporeon suggest that the volume of goods being transported between Great Britain and the EU was 38% lower in the third week of 2021 compared with the same week in 2020.
The data also shows that hauliers are increasingly declining to take loads to Britain as increased border controls caused by Brexit and coronavirus checks make those journeys less profitable.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of Cold Chain Federation, said traffic volumes were still down because of Brexit stockpiling. Warehouses were 85% full, down from 100% before Christmas, but still above the 60% usually seen in January.
He urged the government to “stop using the lack of traffic on Kent roads as a metric of the success of Brexit and realise that the real test is ease of trading”.
