The UK government has urged hauliers bound for France via Dover to get their Covid-19 tests before they reach Kent.
Under French regulations, drivers arriving in the country from the UK must present a negative Covid-19 test taken within the last 72 hours.
Department for Transport under-secretary Rachel MacLean today wrote to haulage representatives to share concerns that cross-Channel freight delays could worsen if hauliers did not get tested earlier in their …
The post To avoid delays, UK...
Port of Tilbury owner Forth Ports said there were clear signs that cross-Channel sea freight was increasingly moving to unaccompanied shipping options, as shippers and their forwarders seek greater supply chain resilience.
The company reported it had seen a 20% year-on-year increase in unaccompanied freight volumes between Tilbury and Zeebrugge in December through its recently opened Tilbury2 terminal, leading P&O Ferries to add an additional vessel to cope with the higher …
The post Unaccompanie...
France has agreed to reopen its borders, with air, rail, and sea operations resuming this morning. Under the agreement between governments on both sides of the Channel, anyone entering France from the UK will be required to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test taken within the preceding 72 hours. As the deal was announced, the number of lorries waiting to cross the border had reached 4,000, with mounting concerns …
The post France reopens UK border to truckers with negative Covid test...
https://theloadstar.com/france-reopens-uk-border-to-truckers-with-negative-covid-test/
Hauliers remained in limbo today as governments on both sides of the Channel seek a resolution to the border closure imposed by France after the UK identified a new variant of Covid-19.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson is to provide an update later today, with expectations that French authorities will reopen the border to accompanied freight by tomorrow for drivers who test negative for the virus.
Nonetheless, the queue of trucks waiting …
Increasing numbers of forwarders have announced they are “Brexit-ready”, but questions remain over how prepared companies can be, with last-minute talks on a free trade deal still in play.
A deal between the EU and UK is reportedly still hanging in the balance, as EC negotiator Michel Barnier warned this morning that the time left to conclude an agreement was now “just a few hours”.
This week, Priority Freight announced a string …
The post Some UK logistics players claim to be ‘Brexit-ready’ –...
https://theloadstar.com/some-uk-logistics-players-claim-to-be-brexit-ready-but-are-they-really/
Brexit minister Michael Gove appears to have shown where government will pass the buck when – or a faintly possible if – Brexit chaos ensues in January, with EU bureaucracy and French strikers the most likely prospective bogeymen.
Asked during this week’s Logistics UK’s Get Ready for Brexit webinar whether there was any update in trade negotiations that may calm the nerves of retailers in Northern Ireland, Mr Gove said he …
The post ‘Not everything will be alright on the night’, admits Brexit...
https://theloadstar.com/not-everything-will-be-alright-on-the-night-admits-brexit-minister-gove/
Chaos continues to encircle post-Brexit customs procedures after UK minister Michael Gove faced questions on IT system release dates.
Mr Gove told the Future Relationship with the EU parliamentary select committee he “hoped” the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) and smart freight system would be ready by 4 and 23 December respectively, noting that both systems were being “refined”.
When asked how this differed from being tested, he simply stated that refinement and …
The post More...
https://theloadstar.com/more-post-brexit-logistics-confusion-as-new-customs-it-systems-are-refined/
The UK Major Ports Group (UKMPG) has urged UK and European shippers and freight forwarders to consider using alternative home ports post-Brexit to avoid potential congestion at Dover and on the roads in its immediate hinterland.
It released a report today claiming there is a considerable amount of unused capacity on the UK east coast for shippers and forwarders to switch freight flows from the cross-Channel ferry services centred on Dover.
The …
Being a hostage to fortune is never a good place to be, and unfortunately that looks like the short-term future for Ireland’s exporters to Europe, dependent on the British landbridge, who can expect to pay a particularly heavy price for the UK’s botched Brexit preparations. Some 150,000 Irish trucks transit the UK a year to Europe, carrying around €18bn in exports. Expectations of huge queues of trucks leading to Dover …
The post Ireland faces devastating blow after its failure on ferry services...
UK-Europe ro-ro operator CLdN today defended its decision to launch a judicial review into the British government’s £35m aid package to the ferry industry.
Appearing in front of the all-party Parliamentary Transport Select Committee via video link today, CLdN director Benjamin Dove-Seymour said the aid package awarded to six ferry operators across 16 routes between the UK and Europe and Northern Ireland, designated as “Public Service Obligation Routes”, was “misguided”.
Calling it …
The post CLdN...
https://theloadstar.com/cldn-calls-for-retraction-of-misguided-and-unnecessary-state-ferry-subsidy/