TRUCKS carrying Christmas gifts and food have stacked up a 20 mile queue at Dover amid chaos at container ports and No Deal Brexit stockpiling.
Thousands of HGVs have been delayed on the M20 in Kent today, sparking fears presents won’t arrive on time.
Lorries are struggling to get through Britain’s ports due to a lack of certainty over a Brexit deal, which is also seeing companies stockpiling goods.
And the Christmas rush will also have had a knock on effect, causing a spike in demand, which is in turn struggling with the shortages caused by Covid.
Today trucks are stationary in miles of queues in Kent, while across the Channel in France lorries line dual carriageways for miles waiting for transport over to the UK.
Retailers have said they still don’t have orders made in August due to the shopping chaos caused by Covid-19 in China, and problems with unloading in Britain.
They claim it has lead to containers left in Zeebrugge, Belgium, and many have called on the Government to “save the festive season” by stepping in.
Thousands of HGVs have been pouring through Dover as the clock ticks down towards the end of the Brexit transition period.
But with just two weeks to go until 2021, the lack of a trade deal between the UK and EU is causing a headache for businesses.
Trade talks between Britain and the EU are on the brink of collapsing after Boris Johnson warned the nation to get ready for no deal.
Shipments have been delayed and quadrupled in price, with the cost of getting a container from China to the UK now at £7,500-a-load.
GIFT DELAYS
The Covid pandemic has seen a lack of shipping containers, which transport the goods around the world.
This is after economies shut down and reopened at different time, meaning shipping firms fell behind on returning empty containers back to Asian factories.
Last week we told how Christmas gifts could be delayed until after Easter as 24-hour Dover queues spark fears for PS5s, AirPods and other gadgets.
Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister also warned there is “significant uncertainty” around how prepared companies are for a no-deal Brexit.
He said: “We are a fortnight away from this momentous transition and so everything is going to come right down to the wire.
“We are going through a really busy period of time right now with the Brexit stockpiling, the diversion of cargo from other ports coming in through our gateway, it is a really important period of time.
“Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been seeing increases of typically between 20 and 25% over this time last year – but we have topped up some bigger numbers, yesterday we approached nearly 40%.”
Much of the spike in traffic stems from businesses getting in goods before Christmas, as well as Brexit stockpiling.
This increased volume ahead of December 31 may mean that the first weeks of 2021 may be calmer, Mr Bannister said.
“My hope is it allows traders and the hauliers and everyone to become accustomed with the new processes, so that when the volume begins to return again later in the month and into February, that we’ll have a higher proportion of people that can operate in this post-transition period environment.”
Lorries without the proper paperwork could face being turned away from the border from January 1.
