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Issue 8 2019 - Freight Business Journal


said Bullen. “If everyone


involved in cross-Channel freight takes those steps, we can all avoid the gloomy predictions of bottlenecks and severe queues. “Our bottom line is we


have never intentionally let a customer down and we don’t want to start now. Even if Brexit is an unprecedented event and nobody knows exactly how it will unfold, we at DFDS can still work hard to provide service continuity.” Mr Bullen also outlined how


the original 29 March deadline for Brexit had skewed freight volumes through Dover, due to stockpiling. “We ended up shipping far


more than anticipated: 390,000 freight vehicles passed through Dover in March this year – the highest ever for a single month – but traffic subsided to just 300,000 in April, 90,000 units less and the quietest month for the past 2½ years. “It does make it hard to plan,


but I think many importers learned from this March scenario. On the other hand, we


are now into the pre-Christmas season when freight naturally ramps up anyway, so volumes will remain buoyant now for the build up to Christmas rather than appearing to fall away due to earlier stockpiling. “That seasonal pressure


and any possible Brexit issues will highlight the time and money we have invested in our Dunkerque operation, where we are the sole cross-Channel operator and have an excellent long-term relationship with the port authorities. This gives us several advantages: “Upon


arrival in Dunkerque regular customers can benefit from our ‘Fast


Lane’ operation,


guaranteeing their place aboard a DFDS ship and avoiding potential queues, which reassures truck operators carrying urgent items such as pharmaceuticals or perishable goods; DFDS has been named as one of eight companies able to bring vital medicines and other critical goods into the UK if Brexit takes place on 31 October. “The new Dunkerque facility


was designed with Brexit in mind and is only available with


Planning for the unknown


In an interview with FBJ, Wayne Bullen said it had been “incredibly difficult to plan for Brexit” and to accurately judge which way the market was reacting. He explained: “Leading up to each Brexit date, there was always an element of stockpiling, after which (traffic) fell away. However, it is always difficult to judge by how much the market is going to react and to separate it from other seasonal factors, such as Christmas.” The current situation with an


election added into the ongoing Brexit process, would be even harder to judge, he said. Meanwhile, efforts to


encourage DFDS’s freight customers – and their customers, the shippers – to take appropriate action would continue, Brexit or no Brexit. But perhaps because the process has gone on for so long, with so many unfulfilled dates, a certain amount of ‘Brexit fatigue’ had built up; not everyone seems to be convinced that it will ever happen, says Bullen.


The biggest worry, he says, are


the smaller firms that cannot afford to spend too much time and money planning for as yet unknown outcomes, “and the fear is that, when their loads arrive in


the port, with the


amount of traffic that’s being handled, it won’t take much to create a complete stoppage”. Even if a company had got all its own paperwork in order, other trucks being turned around at the entrances could prevent them from reaching the port. DFDS


sales through staff checklists are


encouraging customers to go


and


check out online information to ensure that they are as prepared as possible. Again it tends to be the larger customers with the necessary resources who are best prepared. Smaller firms may not have the time or staff available; some may also see the UK as ‘only 5%’ of their market – but without realising that it could soon account for 95% of their problems. Advice to hauliers is not to


accept loads if paperwork is not in order, but the competitive


Ital offers ADR to France


Back in 2016 Ital noticed several French groupage operators were cutting services carrying departures for dangerous (ADR) goods, says route manager, James Mears. “We noticed several French groupage operators were reducing or cancelling ADR departures. Within two weeks of our meeting, our French service was born.” Ital formed a partnership with


French based transport firm Fatton in Lyon and Marseille and currently operates 4-6 groupage


departures per week to both cities. Mears continues: “Over recent


months we have seen freight volumes increase especially to Corsica. This year it has expanded and now operate departures every Tuesday and Friday from Manchester to Paris.” Mears recalls: “As a result of


this we were approached by a company which specialises in Morocco, which has led to us commencing new services


pressures on truckers and the willingness to accept contractual loads may make this hard to realise in practice. The creation of a holding area


at Manston for trucks without correct paperwork would be only part of the answer to the problem, Bullen continued. The prospect of trucks crowding onto


unsuitable run or local roads


and getting in the way of the school


emergency


services was not a comfortable one, he pointed out, and how long would it be before the surrounding area becomes gridlocked? Nevertheless, DFDS had


introduced some contingency measures and Bullen believes that these will play a big


to Morocco and Tunisia.” Departures from Manchester every Tuesday and Friday are routed via one of the Paris hubs, and door-door transit times are 6-7 days. “Over recent months we


have seen freight volumes increase, especially to Corsica. The island has been part of France since 1768, but retains a distinct Italian culture. This year we listened to customer demand, expanding our service portfolio into Northern France. We now operate departures every Tuesday and Friday from Manchester to Paris.”


part towards keeping things


moving. In Dover and Calais it is to some extent constrained by the pressures of busy, multi-operator


ports its but


///FRANCE


DFDS, though it is also seen as a long-term customer benefit. Major customers have already praised this option as a great initiative. “We also have an advance


check-in of up to 24 hours for Dunkerque, where around 200 trucks can book a sailing in advance by driving into the port and requesting a future sailing. Truckers can then park in a secure area and then go for a shower or meal, knowing they can simply return to their vehicle and board their chosen sailing. It’s already popular,


traffic such as pharmaceuticals or chilled or perishable goods allowing trucks to bypass any potential queues. Spaces will be reserved on


vessels for urgent traffic and while it might not always be possible to guarantee drivers that they will be able to get away on the very next vessel – if all spaces are full – it should be possible to guarantee space on subsequent sailings. Another innovation is the


in


Dunkerque, where DFDS operates


own dedicated


terminal, DFDS has introduced a 200 truck space buffer zone, inside the port security fence, to allow drivers to wait safely, should the check-in booths become congested. Bullen added: “We have also


created a further 400 truck parking spaces in the port, again within the port’s secure area, ensuring safety and comfort for drivers and security for our customers and their cargo.” In addition, the ferry operator has created a fast lane for urgent


advanced check in facility which allows drivers with non- urgent loads to park up for free within the port’s secure area and check in for sailings that may be departing several hours later. It allows DFDS to plan and spread the load on its vessels while avoiding drivers having to search for – often expensive - secure parking space elsewhere. Along with a number of other


ferry operators, DFDS is one of the potential recipients of UK government grants to add extra ferry capacity to cope with the immediate post-Brexit situation. DFDS could deploy extra ferries to various routes from within its large fleet, or possibly delay scheduled refits where this did not affect or


but can also help Brexit, by spreading demand and utilising off-peak sailings to deter queuing. “Another long running USP


is that we do operate from two French ports – our freight traffic is split roughly 50/50 between them – but we are the only operator using Dunkerque, so if Calais suffers a stoppage of any kind or is overloaded then a Calais bound ship can divert to Dunkerque and there we have the berths and the infrastructure to cope with the increased traffic.”


compromise safety. Bullen points out, moreover,


that DFDS is unique among cross-Channel operators in that it could quickly and easily redeploy vessels from Calais to Dunkerque or vice versa, as demand dictates. One of its two existing vessels can use either port and it already has fully staffed


and equipped


operations in either location “thus making us very agile if congestion occurs”. Other ferry operators


would find it hard to use other ports where they were not normally established as staff and equipment would have to be relocated – even if they had vessels that would fit the berths. “That sort of flexibility is priceless and a massive benefit to our customers,” comments Bullen.


All in all, DFDS is doing


everything it can to mitigate a worrying situation. While DFDS like other ferry operators has faced disruption such as strikes on the Channel in the past, Brexit is much more of an unknown. Also, unlike industrial action, which does eventually come to an end, Brexit has the potential to become an ongoing situation.


Eurotunnel – ready for anything


It’s been a difficult time for all cross-Channel operators, trying to second-guess when Brexit will actually occur and what it would bring. Planning for specific Brexit dates, only to see them postponed repeatedly, may be frustrating, but it hasn’t all been wasted effort, says Eurotunnel director of public affairs, John Keefe. What Eurotunnel did, as each


Brexit deadline approached, was to plan for the worst-case scenario, but it also tried to ensure that the measures it put in place would be useful in any case, Brexit or not. “We’ve taken a long term view,”


Keefe explains. “Yes, there is a sense of frustration but we have taken advantage of the situation to try and future-proof as much as possible. With everything that


areas will be useful for traffic growth,


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we’ve tried to put in place, such as stronger security controls or the smart borders scheme to collect data in advance, we’ve tried to use Brexit as a lever to develop systems that are going to be useful whatever the outcome. “But ultimately, it’s all about


politics and the industry just wants some stability and certainty so that it can work efficiently.” New road layouts and parking


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