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Drivers face increasing attacks in Calais area


Regrettably certain events are cyclical, and increased violence towards truck drivers during the summer and early autumn months seems to be an unwelcome annual occurrence. Migrants arriving in Europe move northwards, arriving in the Channel ports area during the summer months and then try to enter the UK illegally. Increasing violence against truck drivers in mainland


Europe causes doubts in all users of the various main supply routes and inevitably leads to increased concerns, changes in routes and disruption, all of which have significant cost implications. On Friday 21 July, a driver heading to the UK was


attacked after leaving the cab to check his vehicle, having seen a group of people attempting to enter it. An alert issued by Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) said the


driver was struck over the head with a brick before the group hijacked his lorry. The driver was hospitalised with what K+N described as a “severe” head injury. The hijacked lorry was stopped by police some 8 km from the hijack site. Andrew Round, industry liaison and intelligence


officer at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NavCIS), said the hijackers were believed to number between 20 and 30 men. Mr Round said: “If the levels of violence seen over the last six to eight weeks persist, I would like to see the military brought back in.” “It is just not fair on the drivers; something has to be


done between the UK and French governments above and beyond what they are already doing.” In June, a Polish van driver died in the early hours of


the morning on one of the main approach roads to Calais after colliding with three trucks that had been forced to stop at a makeshift barrier set up by migrants. BIFA’s main concern is that drivers carrying out their


legitimate business should be allowed to do so without fear or hindrance. It is essential that governments on both sides of the Channel review the situation and take the necessary steps to ensure that trade continues to flow. In 2016, the situation was far worse and received greater publicity than has been the case this year. BIFA would like to thank NavCIS and The Loadstar for providing the information on which this article is based.


Plan ahead to cope with urban charges and lorry bans across the UK


Scarcely a day goes by without a policy announcement or similar being made about climate change, and there does seem to be a divergence of approach developing between Europe and America for instance. In July, UK Environment


Secretary Michael Gove announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Britain by 2040. The announcement follows the lead set by France two weeks earlier and will be set out in the UK government’s long-awaited “air quality plan”. Subsequently, Mr Gove


announced that all new cars will have to be fully electric within a quarter of a century, which includes


6


banning hybrid powered vehicles. Behind this eye-catching,


headline-grabbing announcement were a package of announcements to bring pollution levels down to legal levels in towns and cities including London and Glasgow. Cities across the UK will start


levying prohibitively high charges on older HGVs and vans, for air quality reasons, between early 2019 and the end of 2020. London has plans that could see, at the same time, many HGVs banned from the capital for having insufficient direct vision. Operators need to plan procurement or other coping strategies now to ensure the business impact is minimised. The government has named 32


local authorities across England that have to take further action on air quality, but it is a complicated process with local authorities determining what policies will be implemented to reduce pollution. There are concerns that this will lead to a fragmented approach that will result in confusion for those companies operating in more than one of these local authority areas. It is thought that some truck


operators will have to replace significant parts of their fleets or retrofit equipment in order to avoid incurring heavy penalties. We are aware that some trade


associations specialising in this area will be holding events in order to publicise this issue.


www.bifa.org


Value of the TIR Convention highlighted


by WCO While customs transit procedures do not get extensive media attention, they are the cornerstone of efficient global supply chains and, ultimately, allow international trade. Acknowledging the need to


improve customs transit worldwide, the World Customs Organization organised a global Conference on Transit at its Brussels headquarters on 10-11 July 2017. At the conference, UNECE showcased a variety of legal instruments developed under the auspices of the Inland Transport Committee, and in particular the TIR Convention, which remains, after almost six decades, the only truly global customs transit system. Over the last three years,


Pakistan, China and India, home to almost 40% of the world population, have acceded to the TIR Convention. This significant change in the geographical scope of the TIR Convention provides an additional incentive for other countries around the globe to join the TIR system to complement any regional initiatives to facilitate transit. Taking advantage of the large


participation at the global transit conference, UNECE and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) jointly organised a side event and booth allowing interested countries to learn about all the benefits of the TIR system for customs administrations as well as the transport sector. UNECE also took part in the


side event organised by UN- OHRLLS on “the importance of efficient transit cooperation for the achievement of the SDGs by the landlocked developing countries”. To learn more about UNECE’s


work on transport, please visit: www.unece.org/trans/ welcome.html


September 2017


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