Road Freight and Brexit - What To Do

Impact beyond service delays - THE FACTS       

With the market battling considerable impact not solely related to service delays, Woodland have experts in place to define the facts, source solutions and potential opportunities for customers and, most importantly, provide transparency and clarity in what can feel like overwhelming times.

Please find here a summary of key circumstances and effects, market characteristics as well as actions proposed by HMRC.

Delays, price volatility and lack of trailer capacity

• There are service delays caused by a 20 mile trailer congestion at Calais
• Congestion surcharges are being imposed by hauliers
• Recognised trucker and freight companies are cancelling services to the U.K. due to existing backlogs
• Carriers looking to find alternative ports are causing capacity issues where sailings are
• now over-subscribed
• Alternative container services across the North Sea are also affected due to capacity issues       

Inventory Levels

In recent months, there have been stockpiling issues with companies protecting themselves by increasing inventory levels, resulting in an increased demand for third party warehousing both in the UK and in mainland Europe.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?

• Expect further delays and an increasing shortage of trailer supply resulting in a significant upward pressure on costs

• General Groupage will be subject to delays

What can you do? - THE OPTIONS

We have the resources and network in place to find the best possible solutions for you based on the most up-to-date expert knowledge.

• For groupage shipments circa 1000 Kgs in weight of 6 pallets or less, we can offer a two tier service – contact us here.

• We have designed a Daily Premium Express Service -  A pan European Import and export service, which manages to avoid the above-mentioned delays to hit target lead times –contact us here.

In the event that we face a hard Brexit, we have invested in a joint venture back office facility along with our existing U.K. Customs brokers and our own employed customs department to process the increased levels of volume.

Potential changes to be aware of - SAVEGUARDING    

TSP - Transitional Simplified Procedure

Transitional Simplified Procedure is a solution designed to make it easier for goods to be imported from the EU if the UK faces a hard Brexit and leaves without a deal on the 29th March.

TSP is limited to roll on roll off (Ro-Ro) transit port locations, and is only for traffic from the EU.

TSP allows a registered Importer to lodge a simplified frontier declaration to clear goods from the EU arriving at a designated Ro-Ro Port. Goods can theoretically flow freely, as the Importer is required to make a full (supplementary) Import declaration at a later date, by the end of the fourth working day of the following month. Payment of Customs duty is deferred, too.      

Duty

HMRC have announced that Duty will be waived on the vast majority of products (87%) for an interim period of at least 12 months in the event of a ‘no deal’.

The process for accounting of import VAT will also change, so that businesses will be able to pay import VAT on the next VAT return rather than when goods arrive at the border, allowing for import VAT to be declared and recovered on the same return.

This means that if you are VAT registered, you will no longer have to pay it up front and then claim it back. 

Reminder - EORI number

If you currently trade with the EU and would like to continue to do so, you need to apply for an EORI number – A basic requirement for continuing physical trade of goods with the EU.                                        

It is a simple process that is free and we urge traders to apply as soon as possible if they haven’t already - do it now HERE.      

For more info, please visit our website.