Operation Brock, the traffic management scheme that forces lorries heading to the Dover and Folkestone ports to queue on the M20 during peak times, will be deployed overnight on Wednesday 1 April ahead of the Easter weekend. But, according to business group Logistics UK, the contraflow system epitomises the piecemeal and short-term approach policy makers take to the UK’s ageing infrastructure and, as Head of Trade Policy James Mills explains, a permanent solution is long overdue.
“It is deeply frustrating to the dedicated logistics staff that keep the UK trading that the best solution to predictable seasonal peaks at the Short Straits crossing remains to turn the M20 into a lorry park and force drivers to wait on the hard shoulder, sometimes for days at a time.
“Over half of all goods traded between Great Britain and mainland Europe travel across the Short Straits crossings between England and France, and up to 16,000 freight vehicles travel through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel every day. This shows how critical the crossings are to the UK economy. HGV drivers heading to the ports, along with passengers and Kent residents, deserve a permanent solution to the unavoidable congestion that occurs at the border to keep trade moving while minimising delays and congestion. Operation Brock is an inefficient and expensive workaround for an issue that our sector has been raising with government for years, with over £3 million of public money spent last year alone deploying the scheme.
“Delays at the border don’t just impact drivers, but they can add cost and uncertainty into supply chains, ultimately pushing up prices for businesses and consumers.
“As the delays that occur every Bank Holiday show, a permanent solution at the border is long overdue, one that is befitting of the strategic importance of the Short Straits crossings to the UK’s economy, and where HGV drivers can wait with access to proper toilet facilities, hot food and somewhere to rest – something every other worker in the country takes for granted.”
Logistics UK is one of the UK’s biggest business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With decarbonisation, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, water and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods. For more information about the organisation and its work, please visit logistics.org.uk
