Saturday, January 22, 2022
Brexit blamed for Dover queues
The Independent reports that huge lorry queues building up at the Port of Dover have been blamed “entirely” on extra controls which have come into force from Brexit, with port chiefs urging the UK government to hold talks with the EU on ways to ease further checks set to come in later in 2022 which could cause “disastrous” disruption to trade:
One courier told The Independent he had been caught up in queues of up to 15km (9 miles) since full customs controls came into force at the beginning of January.
The British haulier said it was taking 15 to 20 minutes for each driver to clear checks needed for the UK government’s new Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) system and other export paperwork at Dover.
“It’s entirely Brexit – you can’t blame it on anything else but Brexit,” said the driver, who has had to push back some deliveries.
The haulier added: “People will get to grips with GVMS and the new paperwork in the weeks ahead. But even if they don’t take as long, checks still take time. So the queues are bound to get worse when traffic flows pick up next month.”
Recent disruption has been even more significant around the French port of Calais since new customs controls were introduced on goods imported into the UK at the start of January.
Lorry drivers have reported queueing for up to eight hours to get through controls, partly because UK firms have struggled with complex new customs declarations and rules-of-origin forms.
But the GVMS system is also creating longer checks for lorries heading to the EU at Dover. There was a queue of 7km leading up to Dover port on Friday morning, according to the Sixfold traffic tracker used by the logistics industry which has recorded “higher than usual” build-up this week.
The congestion at Dover in recent days has seen the Operation TAP temporary traffic system being implemented – with all vehicles restricted to 40mph and lorries asked to queue in one lane until there is space.
It is not as if the government were not warned. Perhaps they should have struck a deal with the EU after all.
One courier told The Independent he had been caught up in queues of up to 15km (9 miles) since full customs controls came into force at the beginning of January.
The British haulier said it was taking 15 to 20 minutes for each driver to clear checks needed for the UK government’s new Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) system and other export paperwork at Dover.
“It’s entirely Brexit – you can’t blame it on anything else but Brexit,” said the driver, who has had to push back some deliveries.
The haulier added: “People will get to grips with GVMS and the new paperwork in the weeks ahead. But even if they don’t take as long, checks still take time. So the queues are bound to get worse when traffic flows pick up next month.”
Recent disruption has been even more significant around the French port of Calais since new customs controls were introduced on goods imported into the UK at the start of January.
Lorry drivers have reported queueing for up to eight hours to get through controls, partly because UK firms have struggled with complex new customs declarations and rules-of-origin forms.
But the GVMS system is also creating longer checks for lorries heading to the EU at Dover. There was a queue of 7km leading up to Dover port on Friday morning, according to the Sixfold traffic tracker used by the logistics industry which has recorded “higher than usual” build-up this week.
The congestion at Dover in recent days has seen the Operation TAP temporary traffic system being implemented – with all vehicles restricted to 40mph and lorries asked to queue in one lane until there is space.
It is not as if the government were not warned. Perhaps they should have struck a deal with the EU after all.
