New measures that target the bank accounts and assets of people smuggling gangs have been welcomed by the RHA, which said it hoped they’d stop stowaways ending up in lorries.
The government said the sanctions aimed at reducing illegal migration into the UK are expected to come into force this year.
Foreign secretary David Lammy said they were designed to disrupt the flow of money and could be imposed on companies and individuals aiding illegal migration.
“The greatest failure of the last government was that they told Britain they would take back control,” he said.
“But the truth is they lost control of our borders and with it they lost - and deserved to lose - the confidence of the British public.”
Ashton Cull, RHA senior public affairs lead, said it supported the efforts: “We’re hopeful that the measures they’ve announced today will be a sufficiently disruptive deterrent.
“Commercial vehicle operators get unwittingly caught up in this trade with criminal gangs using ever-resourceful ways of securing clandestine entrants into UK-bound vehicles undetected.
“The same gangs who are loading people onto boats for perilous sea crossings without any regard for their safety are doing the same thing when helping them break into vehicles.
“This also puts drivers at risk and also leaves them and their employers liable to receiving huge fines if people are discovered on board.”
Earlier this week, the business group said the clandestine entrant civil penalty scheme needed overhauling and that compliant drivers were being unfairly penalised when stowaways were found in their vehicles.
Cull said: “We’re concerned about the effectiveness of the clandestine entrant civil penalty scheme which is in place to prevent illegal entry into the UK, as we hear of drivers and firms who’ve made every effort to keep their vehicles secure fall foul of its measures which include fines of up to £10,000 per clandestine entrant.
“We support reforms of the scheme to ensure that drivers and employers are better protected.
“This is why we’re calling for entry checklists to be revised, better training for Border Force officials, improved support from UK and French authorities for targeted drivers, and a declaration that drivers are not expected to intervene with clandestine entrants.”
