Dover, UK: The Dutch haulage trade body Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN) is warning that inadequate conditions at UK border posts, along with long delays, could mean drivers start turning down jobs transporting goods to the UK.
According to the Guardian, which has seen a four-page report on TLN’s concerns,
drivers are facing average waits of over four hours because of the new Border Target Operating Model checks. Some drivers have even been held at border posts for up to 20 hours.
TLN is also concerned about the inadequacy of facilities at border posts as drivers are unable to get coffee or food.
The association said: “We are increasingly receiving reports from hauliers that their drivers no longer want to drive to the UK unless conditions improve.”
The report listed a series of issues that Dutch lorry companies and drivers had experienced since the government brought in border checks for plant and animal products on 30 April.
Elmer de Bruin, the international affairs manager at TLN, told the Guardian: “Sometimes these drivers are being held in a waiting room that is only a few square metres, and there is nothing there, only a bit of water, and not even a cup of coffee.
“The drivers, who usually love coming to the UK, may say that if we continue to experience these waiting times, treatment and the facilities [in the UK], it might occur that these drivers think, ‘With a huge driver shortage, I can start at a new company.’”
