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Border freight movements need permanent solution, says Logistics UK

As the summer get away begins, Logistics UK has reacted with disappointment at the ongoing reliance on Operation Brock, the traffic management scheme that forces lorries heading to the Dover and Folkestone ports to queue on the M20 during peak times.

Logistics UK James Mills, the business group’s head of trade policy, said:  “Ten years after the Brexit vote, it is deeply frustrating to see public money being spent to deploy temporary cones on the coastbound carriageways our members use every day to export to continental customers.

“Every cone placed on the motorway costs the public money, funding that could be used to create a permanent solution to manage coastbound traffic at peak times. 

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“The Short Straits crossing remains the easiest and quickest way to move goods to Europe, but a decade after the country voted to leave the European bloc, we are no closer to a permanent solution to the entirely predictable queues which form during the summer getaways.

“In fact, the queues have continued, with the European Entry and Exit System (EES) having recently replaced passport stamping with biometric checks before the EU system is working reliably.

“This is deeply frustrating both for our members, who want to deliver for their customers, and those who want to start their holidays rather than sit in endless queues.”

The group’s concerns come against a backdrop of declining UK export volumes. Analysis for Logistics UK from independent transport economists MDS Transmodal shows that, in the ten years since the Brexit referendum, UK exports have fallen significantly both to the EU and globally.

UK exports to the EU are down 15.9% by volume while exports to the Rest of the World have fallen by 37.2%.