Irish trucks traveling the UK to avoid Brexit procedures

DUBLIN – As the EU adjusts to its new relationship with the UK after Brexit, fewer freight trucks make the voyage across the Irish Sea.

For decades, the route through the UK (the so-called land bridge that lasts about 15 hours) has been a vital and reliable artery to bring goods from Ireland to mainland Europe.

But with the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December, trucks from the Republic of Ireland (which is still a member of the EU) traveling through the UK and entering the mainland through ports such as Calais are now facing a lot of paperwork and paperwork.

In the first week of January, operators such as Stena Line, Brittany Ferries and Irish Ferries have added additional routes from Ireland to French ports such as Dunkirk, Cherbourg and Saint-Malo, as well as Bilbao to Spain.

Three months after Brexit, port authorities, carriers and ferry operators are facing this new normal in Irish-European trade.

DFDS, the Danish shipping firm, recently added a route between Rosslare Europort in the south-east of Ireland to Dunkirk.

“Overall, we’re oversubscribed in capacity most days,” Aidan Coffey, DFDS route director, told CNBC.

“Right now there are three ships rotating schedules. That will get to a fourth ship very soon.”

The journey takes approximately 24 hours and is longer than it would normally take to drive across the land bridge.

Laurence O’Toole is the CEO of the logistics company O’Toole Transport, which transports various mixed cargoes to its trucks, including seafood. Before Brexit, most of his trips traveled the UK to reach Europe, but he now puts more trucks on these new routes.

“I would say he’s upside down completely now,” O’Toole said.

For Rosslare Europort, the evolution of the dynamics of freight transport has increased activity in its berths. The port, more than 100 miles south of Dublin, has proven to be a popular location for ferries to link with ports in France and Spain.

Glenn Carr, CEO of Rosslare Europort, told CNBC that demand at the port has risen, but UK freight traffic has fallen by around 43%.

“It’s still very worrying, this level of decline in the UK. But global transport via Rosslare Europort, combined UK and Europe, has increased by 51% during the first two months of the year. This kind of growth never seen in Rosslare “. Carr said.

“It looks like demand continues to rise. We are probably in discussions with possible other operators and other services.”

He said boat operators had to move quickly to prepare the routes. There is usually a route that gradually grows in demand over a period of 18 months before reaching capacity, but most trips are at full capacity now.

“It’s unprecedented and certainly when talking to the shipping lines they wouldn’t have seen any incorporation of a new service like this,” Carr said.

However, there are still only three months to go into this new environment, while the shocks of the coronavirus in the trade continue to be felt as well and shippers continue to adjust. It remains to be seen what part of the land bridge traffic will eventually return in the coming months.

“But the talks are about further expansion (of direct routes), it’s not about any contractions,” Carr said.

Rosslare Europort has launched a € 35 million ($ 41.3 million) investment plan to renovate and expand the port’s facilities to meet this demand. The works will be executed over the next four years.

In the port of Dublin, operators expect the wharf to reach production capacity between 2030 and 2040. It has opened a consultation on what its long-term future will be beyond 2040, as the construction of any facility additional to the east coast of Ireland up to 20 years to design, build and put into operation.

These direct routes have not been a total panacea for the challenges Brexit has posed to Irish commodity companies, according to O’Toole.

These journeys take longer, often between 18 and 24 hours, and, depending on the port a ferry attracts, can add more miles to a truck’s journey.

Trucks that land in Cherbourg but are destined for the north of France, the Benelux countries, Germany or beyond, face many more kilometers, hours and fuel costs. Meanwhile, Dunkirk is close to Calais, causing a familiar environment for drivers accustomed to the land bridge.

“(Direct routes) are more expensive and slower, which is never good in the transportation business,” O’Toole said.

“It avoids a whole bunch of paperwork, but for our customers and for us, the costs have gone up. We’re trying to get this out of our customers. It’s not easy with Covid, no one has money to throw in trying to keep up. as tight as possible. “

He said direct routes still cannot compete with pre-Brexit land bridge efficiency.