IRELAND\\\


Back to the future for Trans Europe Express?


When Vincent McGovern set up groupage specialist Trans Europe Express in the Ulster port town of Warrenpoint in the early 1990s, it was to take advantage of the new rapid transit times for road transport made possible by the European Single Market. He explains: “Back in those


days, everything moved by container, but when the EU customs union came, I saw an opportunity to move things more quickly by trailer.” The fear now is Brexit could


propel the industry back into a pre-1992 situation, although McGovern hopes it won’t come to that. “I set this business up because the UK had joined the EU. I hope we’re not coming full circle.” The family business specialises


in the Nordic countries – Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway – to and from Ireland (north and south) as well as the near European markets


such as


France, Benelux and Germany. It offers an over-the-weekend service leaving Warrenpoint on Thursday and arriving in Gothenburg, Esbjerg and Brevik on Monday, with Helsinki arrival on Wednesday. Services into the UK are slightly slower owing to the ferry schedules. With Warrenpoint being so close to the border, its customer


base is as much Southern as Northern Ireland. It mostly uses the Seatruck Ferries ro ro service that operates from Warrenpoint to Heysham and, for the Nordic countries, landbridges across England to Immingham with its regular DFDS sailings. Norway, of course, is not an


EU member, and it gives some foretaste of what life could be like if the UK should crash out of the Union without a deal in March. Anything coming into Warrenpoint from there and destined for southern Ireland has to wait until the T-form is discharged by Irish customs. This is normally quite a quick process, taking no more than 24 hours, as the volume of trade is quite small, but if everything from Sweden, Finland and Denmark is in future to require clearance – the system could gum up and may make operating across the border into Southern Ireland slow and difficult. McGovern says: “We are


unfortunately no closer to knowing what


will happen in


March next year than we were two years ago, and it’s a pity that the discussions we’re having now did not happen then. We may have to bring in more staff to process customs, but we don’t know that for certain yet.” There are ways in which


FTA welcomes Ulster road upgrade


The Freight Transport Association said on 26 September that it welcomed news that the A6 upgrade between London/Derry and Dungiven is finally under way. Policy manager Seamus Leheny said: “The logistics sector has long been pressing for the dualling of the A6, to provide improved and more reliable journey times and the new road will undoubtedly provide insurances to businesses over time sensitive deliveries on which they all rely.” He said that the current single


carriageway road is frequently blocked or congested, creating uncertainty for manufacturers and retailers. When complete, the 25.5km


mile section will include a bypass around Dungiven and will eventually link Derry and Belfast via a dual carriageway, and is expected to reduce journey times by almost 50% - or even more during peak hours. The Department for


Infrastructure says the work will cost £220 million and is expected to take up to four years to complete.


matters could could commercial be invoice simplified,


McGovern suggests. For example,


the be


normal the


customs document, rather


than having a separate piece of paper with essentially the same information? Duty and VAT could be self-accounted for by the trader, rather as VAT is already


Issue 2 2018 - FBJ


handled. McGovern hopes that the


politicians can sort things out soon, because Northern Ireland’s manufacturers are currently doing rather well. Trans Europe Express handles a wide variety of goods – “anything from a needle to an anchor” – with an emphasis on items for the fishing, shipping, mining and quarrying industries. “Northern Ireland still has a good manufacturing base, so there is still a lot of heavy and big cargo.”


11 The customer base is


anywhere from the border area down to Dublin and, says McGovern, he can handle collections and deliveries to and from Dublin city almost as quickly as is possible from Dublin port. If Brexit does make things difficult, it might prompt a rethink of the current trailer-based model, but Trans Europe Express would be reluctant to forego the convenience of the ferry services operating from its doorstep.


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