Poor facilities for lorry drivers and delays at post-Brexit checkpoints are deterring European hauliers from coming to the UK, industry insiders have warned.
Nichola Mallon, head of trade and policy at Logistics UK, said truckers could be stranded for hours without access to toilets when Operation Brock, the system installed to manage traffic chaos towards Dover, is triggered.
The body has raised concern with the Government over driver welfare which it says is harming recruitment and attempts to build a more diverse workforce, with less than two per cent of lorry drivers women.
Meanwhile, the Cold Chain Federation cited a lack of provision for drivers and delays at border facilities like Sevington, near Dover, where inspections on food and plant imports from the EU are now carried out.
The i Paper has reported how young truckers are quitting, putting Government housebuilding and infrastructure plans at risk with the industry in the grip of a recruitment crisis.
Meanwhile, post-Brexit border checks requiring British holidaymakers to provide fingerprints and facial photos are likely to come into effect at the end of this year after they were delayed again due to fears of 14-hour queues into Dover.
There are concerns that any queues as a result of the Entry/ Exit System (EES) will discourage hauliers from crossing the Channel even further.
The Sevington Inland Border Facility near Ashford, Kent (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Doug Bannister, chief executive of Port of Dover, said the EES could be rolled out in November – a year after its original start date.
Another source said the biometrics system could be launched at the port in October, with the EU likely to implement it at other locations around the UK – such as airports and the Eurostar station at King’s Cross – earlier in the year as part of a “phased” rollout.
The scheme was postponed last year amid fears roads into Dover would be paralysed by tourist traffic in 14-hour queues, with Logistics UK warning food deliveries would be at risk.
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Read MoreMallon said there was a disparity between provision for lorry drivers in the UK and Europe which was discouraging continental hauliers from crossing the Channel.
“Drivers can often sit for hours and hours in queues with no access to toileting facilities or other welfare facilities,” she said.
“No other worker would accept that in their working environment.
“We’ve also said to Government if we have images of hauliers and drivers sitting in traffic for hours and hours that acts as a disincentive.
“It is counterproductive to the efforts that we are making as an industry to attract new people and to create a much more diverse workforce.”
As well as giving an EES start date, Brussels must clarify when an app for tourists to log their details in advance would be completed, Mallon added, with manual border checks needed if it’s not ready in time impacting hauliers.
“If we look at fish produce, for example, time is of the essence. So every half an hour that a perishable product is on the back of a vehicle longer than it has to be, then that has an impact on its shelf life and its value,” she said.
In 2022, drivers stuck in Brock for up to 26 hours said they were treated like “animals” as they queued along a 23-mile stretch of the M20 with no toilets or water.
Phil Pluck, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents around half the UK’s 100,000 refrigerated vehicles, said conditions for drivers have not improved.
Border control operating areas at sites like Sevington in Ashford, Kent, a site where post-Brexit inspections on food and plants are carried out, do not have adequate facilities, he said.
“European lorry drivers are showing an increased reluctance to bring goods over into mainland UK,” he said.
“Sevington has been built at an enormous cost, and that has absolutely no driver facilities.”
He cited one example of a Belgian driver who waited 24 hours last year at the Kent inspection site without washing, food or drinking facilities and vowed never to return to the UK.
“This is part of the problem of recruiting drivers. We are struggling to replace drivers who are leaving the profession. Where facilities are very restricted, safety is compromised,” Pluck said.
“There is a younger generation coming up who are choosing not to be lorry drivers, and particularly females.”
The country would “grind to a halt” if authorities did not prioritise drivers’ safety and dignity, he added.
He has called for the Government to recognise the cold chain industry as a critical part of national infrastructure, and hopes to see a new recruitment drive on the back of the campaign.
“If our supply chain is interrupted, the shelves will be empty in the supermarkets and hospitals will not get their vital medicines,” he added.
“We do not have the people we need, and that will only get worse in the near future.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “The Government continues to prepare plans to mitigate against any disruption when EES is introduced, including regular conversations with the Port of Dover.
“Alongside industry and National Highways, we’re significantly investing in improving roadside facilities and rest areas – change lorry drivers are already benefitting from.”
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