The continuing delays for hauliers transporting goods into the EU was raised with ministers this week, with concerns that the number of operators currently collapsing could make trade increasingly difficult.
The RHA told the business and trade parliamentary committee that red tape was still hampering the movement of goods in and out of Europe post-Brexit and increased bureaucracy was crippling supply chains.
It said hauliers were going out of business while others were shifting away from the EU market and some were considering opening premises in the EU.
Addressing the committee, Alastair Gunn, trade policy lead at the RHA, said: “There are huge delays at borders which cause significant costs; certainly our members are finding it extremely difficult to move goods into and out of the EU now.”
Referring to concerns over the introduction of a new entry and exit system, as well as forthcoming sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules, Gunn added: “The sad reality is in the last few years a lot of haulage firms have gone out of business.
“We have seen insolvencies comparable to the levels of the 2008 financial crisis.
“The challenge with SPS is if it does do what it’s supposed to do and makes it easier for goods to move to the European market, you will need a road haulage sector in good health that’s able to grow to meet that.”
Toby Ovens, MD at Wiltshire-based Broughton Transport, which specialises in temperature-controlled transport, said: “Before Brexit there were no controls. Now, at the loading points, there are frequent delays waiting for vets, waiting for paperwork to be done, completed and stamped.”
Explaining the process for hauliers after they have disembarked a ferry or left the Eurotunnel, Ovens added: “Delays can range from two hours on a good day to 27 days was the worst – all down to a paperwork error.”
The MPs were also told about moving goods into Northern Ireland – widely seen as one the most complex trade borders in the world – and how businesses were shipping to ports in the Republic of Ireland instead of going straight into Belfast.
