Hauliers who invested in facilities to process the now scrapped Brexit border controls have expressed frustration, but are poised to adapt to the new UK-EU deal.
CEO of haulage firm FreshLinc, Lee Juniper, told FPJ that his company had invested in two new Border Control Posts (BCP), ahead of the planned new checks that were due to come in by July 2025.
However, a new ‘reset’ deal with the EU led to these checks being scrapped, and hauliers like FreshLinc with empty facilities.
“For me I’m a little bit annoyed because obviously we invested a fair bit of money, but at the same time I think it’s great news to simplify the way stuff is going to transit through,” Juniper told FPJ, at the recent Festival of Fresh event, held at the Lincolnshire base of Worldwide Fruit.
“We’ll adapt again and I’m sure make good use of those facilities. It is frustrating, but the world of fresh is constantly adapting so for me it’s back into that mindset and here we go again,” he added.
Elsewhere, a looming driver shortage is another other challenge facing the haulage sector after the rise in National Living Wage led to increased staff turnover.
“We have a training school so we’re constantly pushing car drivers to get a lorry licence, so we stay ahead of it. But you can see shortages of drivers coming round again,” said Juniper.
