NEWS\\\


Issue 5 2019 - Freight Business Journal


7


New plan to keep ‘critical’ freight


moving aſter Brexit


The Government has announced a new plan to secure freight capacity for vital supplies aſter Brexit, following the abandonment of transport secretary Chris Grayling’s controversial scheme to hire in ferries at a cost of over £100 million.


In a written parliamentary


statement, Cabinet Office Minster David Lidington said that instead of formal deals, ferry and tunnel operators would be told through public information notices of possible future


contracts that


may be available for tender from September. Companies would be able to express an interest in bidding for contracts on specific services and routes if the UK has not signed an EU withdrawal agreement or if negotiations are continuing. The contracts would include


tranport of human and animal medicines and medical equipment along with other ‘critical’ goods. Grayling’s earlier scheme triggered court cases and out-of-


court settlements last year aſter the Government agreed a £33 million out-of-court settlement to Eurotunnel for being excluded from the initial contracts, only to be counter-sued by P&O Ferries over the payout to Eurotunnel. The DfT had signed deals worth £89m with Brittany Ferries and DFDS; a third operator involving Seaborne and Irish ship operator Arklow dropped out aſter it revealed that Seaborne had no ships or any experience of running a ferry service. In response to the latest scheme,


the Port of Dover criticised the policy of concentrating only on so- called ‘critical goods’ which “form a small subset of the total volume of goods essential to maintaining our quality of life”. The port called for a measured


and holistic approach that dealt with all trading needs, saying: “We believe a prudent Government should place a commensurate level of attention to ensure that all borders remain open so that other time sensitive essential items, such


as perishable foods, continue to flow via the most economic route to market.” Dover has been working with


Government Departments and its business partners on both sides of the Channel for the past 18 months to address the practical issues of keeping trade flowing freely. It added: “Keeping the traffic


moving freely across borders will mean balancing any requirements for


declarations around the


realities of just-in-time logistics and flexible routing of lorries, and crystallising those requirements in sufficient time for merchants to develop the capability to meet them. It is in this area of ‘trader readiness’ that Government can have a profound impact.” Meanwhile, a post-mortem on


the original ferry deal by the Public Accounts Committee, published on 10 July, found that the government’s plan was “rushed and risky”, and with little to show for the eventual £85m total cost. The committee said that the Department for Transport had not been allowed enough time to carry out a proper procurement process. MPs said that the DfT should


learn from the episode, should it be required to re-procure ferry capacity ahead of the new October deadline.


CCS-UK Users Group, which represents users of the air cargo community data system, is vigorously promoting its Advance Information System (AIS) solution for streamlining collections and deliveries of airfreight at Heathrow. AIS is a bolt-on module for CCS-UK that has been in full operational use for over a year among a cross- section of airfreight agents, hauliers and handlers and, says CCS-UK, has dramatically reduced the time taken to process trucks delivering or collecting cargo reduced truck queuing times at Heathrow’s congested ‘Horseshoe’ (Shoreham Road) where agents’ vehicles can be tied up for up to 12 hours at peak times.


AIS enables freight agents to pre-


alert handling agents of loads being delivered and picked up, down to House AWB level, as well as submit Electronic Consignment Security Declarations (e-CSD). This advance information – including vehicle, driver,


cargo being delivered,


handling agent and ETA – can be submitted either through a web portal or messages sent direct from the forwarder’s own system. The information is then accessible to


all relevant parties in the supply chain. Although it is being promoted


primarily as a tool to ease congestion at Heathrow, it is potentially available at all airports where CCS UK has a presence – essentially all UK gateways that handle a significant amount of cargo, including London Gatwick and Manchester. By receiving information


electronically in advance, through AIS handlers can populate their systems


with the shipment


information, reducing paperwork and delays on arrival of the truck, and eradicating re-keying errors. They can also anticipate workloads, schedule resources,


and allocate handling slots for the trucks. This will help to reduce the number of vehicles on the cargo terminal, and cut queue times. The cost of having a truck idle in a queue at Heathrow has been estimated at around £50 an hour. At the first of a series of


presentations on AIS, held at Stanwell near Heathrow on 16 July,


CCS-UK consultant Guy


Thompson said that the ultimate vision was for AIS to be a fully electronic system, interfaced with those of hauliers, forwarders, handlers and transit shed operators that would eliminate the delays caused by drivers having to park their


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