Urgent Update – 20th December 2020

Over the weekend, several new challenges arise for haulage and shipping in the UK and Europe

The new strain of COVID saw the UK / EU border closed for at least 48 hours.

The French government announced it was suspending passenger and human-handled freight transport from the UK for 48 hours from 11 pm GMT Sunday 20 December 2020 and other EU countries followed with similar bans, with the Netherlands announcing a ban on Saturday.

The Road Haulage Association warned the move would have a “devastating effect” on supply chains already disrupted by Brexit stockpiling and pandemic restrictions.

Right now, freight from the EU can enter the UK – however, it is unclear if foreign lorry drivers will be willing to enter the UK knowing they may be stuck here over Christmas.

We are in limbo now, not knowing the next steps, other than more delays, are inevitable.

Global Container Shipping

Over the weekend we saw container ships from the Far East delayed – estimates have slipped by seven days for many shipments due to arrive on the 25 December.

We await to see how the haulage situation affects the movement from port to warehousing.

The ongoing cost of shipping from the Far East continued to make news over the weekend.

It appears from reports by shippers to The Loadstar this week that 40ft FAK (Freight All Kinds) rates to North Europe for 15 January are in the range of $10,000 to $16,000!!!!