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But despite such peaceful scenes, many truck drivers still warn of possible chaos as they try to adjust to the new documents required after Britain’s departure from the European Union. Drivers who do not have the required documents can be detained for several hours, they report.
Until now, when traffic remains well below normal levels, the inconvenience is mainly manifested at the doors of factories and warehouses. According to the seven companies surveyed by Bloomberg, the turmoil is likely to spread to ports as activities recover in the coming days.
“Total chaos,” said David Zaccheo, chief operating officer of Alcaline UK Ltd., which carries 145 trucks between Britain and the European Union. – And what will happen next week? At the moment, we are not even particularly busy. “
Zaccheo said his company’s trucks have been stuck in Italy since Monday because they don’t have the proper transit documents. Another shipment to Milan had to wait two days in the UK before it could move because it did not have the necessary documents either, he said.
Hoping for chaos at the border to ensue in the first weeks after Brexit, many businesses decided to stock up or delay deliveries, leaving Dover strangely empty. Traffic through the port compared to 2019. on average, it fell by 85%. The industry expects activity to recover in the coming days. This is the first major test of Brexit readiness facing Britain.
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The Cabinet Office, the government department responsible for preparing for Brexit, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Truck drivers in the UK
Although the UK has signed a trade agreement with the EU, avoiding tariffs and quotas, companies face new barriers affecting cross-border trade. Companies now have to fill out various forms, such as customs declarations and health certificates, which were not necessary before Britain was still a member of the bloc. According to some logistics companies, the problem is that many customers do not understand what documents are needed.
Ellis Blackham, a financier at JJX Logistics, a UK-based company that transports goods from the UK to the EU, said it took six hours to load a truckload of pharmaceuticals, at least three times longer than usual. The truck was supposed to go to Germany, but the customer did not have the necessary documents.
“It’s a nightmare,” Blackham said. “Confusion starts at the top and goes all the way.”
According to him, another company sent them a pallet of manufactured goods to send to France, but did not attach any attached documents. People were shocked when they were told it wouldn’t be possible to ship the products, recalls Blackham.
“Complete confusion”
“Customers are completely confused about what documents are needed,” he said. “I suppose it will continue until March, when people adjust to the changes.”
The Preston-based Bowker Group, which transports goods to the EU, said it had been stuck in a chemical truck in Belgium for more than two days this week after confusion over who was in charge of customs formalities.
“We’re on fire all the time,” said Jason Tiffen, Bowker’s head of international operations. “The customs agents are overloaded and do not have sufficient resources.”
The industry has long warned of a shortage of skilled workers, as someone will have to complete the 400 million additional customs declarations that will be needed to transport shipments between Britain and the EU each year. The total cost of shipments is approximately £ 13 billion ($ 18 billion) a year.
A customs clearance consortium working with the UK government-backed program to help traders fill out forms informed customers this week that there was still a “significant shortage” of agents.
“The first days after the introduction of the new rules were very difficult,” said Robert Hardy, co-founder of the consortium. “There are a lot of new processes and a particularly steep learning curve.”
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