RHA: Get used to queueing at Dover

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has warned HGV drivers to make sure they get comfortable in their cabs as they prepare for four-hour long queues at ports.

The Independent reports that HGV drivers have been forced to use roadside bushes due to a lack of toilet and bathroom facilities, as the government is being urged to build lorry parks and facilities near Dover.

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, additional checks at Dover and across the English Channel are now the new normal but have caused massive queues and bottlenecks that have forced authorities to implement traffic access protocols such as Dover TAP to mitigate congestion in the city.

Rod McKenzie, Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) executive director for policy and public affairs, has said that the new regulation ‘means friction where none existed’.

“Any change is uncomfortable. That’s part of leaving the European Union and having to do new border custom checks,” he said.

However, despite the long queues, the RHA believes that the freight situation post-Brexit is not in such a sorry state of affairs as it was once expected to be, saying that while there is friction due to the checks, the situation is not disastrous.

Shipping giant Maersk said in January that 2022 didn’t start with the right foot, with major delays registered at ports such as Felixstowe, where average waiting times were up to 10 days – the highest in Europe.

However, the industry has rebutted that and claimed that EU trade is going smoothly.

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