Border Friction

A period of five years has elapsed since the United Kingdom left the European Union. In this period, haulage operators have reported that the movement of goods to and from Europe has become significantly more difficult and have reported facing considerable delays when crossing the border in both directions.

Explaining the border friction in the UK has proven to be challenging and further highlight the respective government’s lack of preparation in ensuring a smooth transition to the post-Brexit world. Initially, Border Force had a significant lack of skilled officers. This has led to a recruitment drive for customs specialists with both experience in the field and applicable language skills. However, little evidence is presently available on the effectiveness of this recruitment drive. Secondly, delays are exacerbated by EU Member States’ inconsistent interpretation of export and import rules. The process is delayed by complications arising from states using different IT systems leading to confusion in the communication of customs information. These delays have resulted not only in financial implications for haulage operators, but for the economy as a whole. Research composed by the CEPR - Centre for Economic Policy Research has indicated that the cost of exporting goods into Europe has increased by 15% whilst trade volumes have concurrently decreased by 23% since January 2020.

In an attempt to challenge these delays, the European Commission (EC) has proposed an app that will allow drivers travelling in either direction to pre-register prior to arriving.

Delays have an array of financial implications for the haulage operator that, ultimately, reflect in the cost to both the haulier's client and the consumer. Operators have noted that considerable additional wages have been incurred by drivers who, through no fault of their own, are being made to wait whilst the appropriate duties and exercises are completed. Further, the continued cost of the operation of the vehicle counties to mount. Alongside increasing operational costs for the haulage operator, border delays further lengthen delivery times leaving a negative experience for the consumer.

Haulage operators may further be concerned regarding the EC proposed app based solution. Training drivers to pre-register prior to arriving at a port or border crossing is likely to involve financial investment and will consume a significant amount of drivers time. The extent to which the EC will offer support for haulage operators in both training drivers and on-going support  is presently unknown. Once trained, the use of an app places additional demands on both the driver and support staff to ensure that all goods are registered correctly and done so in a timely manner. The EC has further not confirmed that the app will be functional at all ports of entry and exit nor have they provided a suggested timescale for the rollout of the app.

Considerable delays on the border continue to plague haulage operators whilst they are in the process of both importing and exporting goods. These delays have had marked financial implications for both the haulage operator and the economy as a whole. In addition, the EC proposed solution to the border delays appears to have a number of pronounced issues.