Too late
The problems surrounding the Channel Tunnel are now high on the (European) political agenda and both France and Great Britain have taken action. According to Chris Hans, this is far too late. "The authorities should have stepped in earlier. Now there are only losers in the branch. The exporters haven't been able to sell as much and a transporter we haven't got enough capacity to carry out all loads. The logistics are too dependent on the available capacity on the well known ferry routes."
Ferries
The ferry services have assisted us as much as possible to fill in places, which we are certainly grateful for. They also had the necessary problems because the ferries were too full which led to cars leaving the ports later. Unfortunately, this caused delays in the deliveries to our customers. All in all it has a huge impact for the whole chain and all parties concerned." Chris Hans wants to emphasise that politicians should have responded to the problems sooner. "Anyone who occasionally follows the news could see the situation would get out of hand. And it did."
Controls
Because the problem with refugees is changing, the safety measures for the transporter himself aren't past tense: "Following procedures and making controls is an extra task that costs man hours." All in all the problem isn't going away any time soon. "Some transporters can't afford the transport to the United Kingdom any more and companies have already folded." Chris Hans can see the problem in the entire chain: "There is less capacity for export. It costs the entire sector a lot of money and it will stay that way for a while. The end isn't yet in sight. The transport is moving, but it remains unsure."
Van Geest International isn't using the Channel Tunnel at Calais at the moment. "Last time our drivers were in traffic for six hours, so now we only transport through Hoek van Holland. There is occasionally some delays due to the weather conditions and due to the boat's schedule the people in the warehouse have to work a bit harder, as we really have to get everything away before 12.30," says René van Geest.
Waiting times
According Colin Galbraith of Moorhouse Mohan the situation at Calais changes day by day: "On Wednesday night all trucks there had to stop due to a problem at Calais, but the situation is usually under control. There are no structural 'stack' operations." The Scotsman estimates that the problems have made the trade 10 to 15% more expensive. "The extra costs of the calamities have been calculated both beforehand and afterwards."
Fences at Calais
Nigel Jenney of the Fresh Produce Consortium UK believes the situation at Calais is stable. "We can't celebrate yet however, as the strikes and delays at the tunnel may be over, but the number of refugees is increasing." He believes the problem is moving: "Refugees are now focussing on other ports and the locations along the route such as petrol stations." FPC created guidelines in collaboration with the British government for transport companies, but like Chris Hans van der Hout, he believes intervention should have and could have come sooner. "The situation has cost the British fruit and vegetable sector 15 million British pounds (20.4 million Euro) in recent months."