More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Lorries in 25-hour queues to cross the Channel are each losing hundreds of pounds as their products go bad en-route to Europe, it has been claimed.
Thousands of hauliers are facing lengthy waits towards Dover, as they are made to join Operation Brock's 20-mile line of trucks between Junctions 8 and 11 of the M20.
Bosses from the British Meat Processors Association say some of the group's members have been on the motorway for more than a day, causing their products to go off before they reach their destinations.
And one firm stresses the delays have resulted in its HGVs losing as much as £800 each.
Graham Eardley, of Scottish meat haulier Eardley International, told the BBC: "Our products have a very short shelf life.
"If we load lamb in the UK on a Monday, we’d expect to deliver that product to Germany on a Tuesday.
“Now we are seeing delays of 20 to 25 hours to cross the Channel, and the quality and the sale value of that product falls by every hour it is delayed.”
Mr Eardley says his drivers - who take fresh meat into Europe - were sitting in the massive line for "20 to 25 hours".
According to the BBC, the Department of Transport has provided no indication as to whether perishable items will be prioritised at the crossing.
The suspension of P&O services at the Dover terminal as well as bad weather, Easter traffic and IT issues have combined to cause the congestion chaos.
A spokesperson for the British Meat Processors Association says these have created a "perfect storm" of problems with the export process.
“The priority for the authorities should be to help lorries with perishable goods get through as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement provided to the Press Association.
“Shelf life is being lost which costs money and creates waste and business will be lost if this continues.
“We need the authorities to review the situation as soon as possible and take some appropriate actions.”
This comes after leaders of the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF), which manages Operation Brock, revealed their fears gridlock could hit the county again in the summer.
The group's senior highways manager, Toby Howe, told BBC Breakfast yesterday that controls limiting entry into the Garden of England need to be introduced to prevent the issue.
"It shouldn’t be Kent that suffers every time we have these issues," he said.
"The summer is a worry. We need plans in place so we can restrict that traffic coming in.
"Hopefully when the ferries are back from P&O, that will assist as well.
"But there will always be some problems as we continue with this sort of thing, so we need plans in place to actually mitigate that before all that traffic comes to Kent."
In the last week, the Sevington Inland Border Facility next to Junction 10a in Ashford has been pushed into use as a holding area for trucks.
But the former Manston Airport in Thanet, which has previously been used to hold 4,000 lorries, is no longer available.
The site was effectively decommissioned in March last year after the Department for Transport said it was no longer required as part of its Brexit contingency plans.
"We have the Operation Brock traffic management system which is there for general incidences across the county," Mr Howe added.
"That can hold 2,000 HGVs and it enables traffic to continue along the M20 in both directions.
“What we’ve found is we’ve had more than those 2,000 HGVs, so we’ve had to find alternative traffic management around the M20 so that traffic can then flow to the Eurotunnel and Port of Dover."
Operation Brock was launched last month following the delays caused by the suspension of P&O Ferries sailings.
But since the beginning of April, the system has been overwhelmed amid poor weather, an Easter traffic spike and IT issues.
The moveable barrier allows lorries travelling to Dover to use one side of the M20, while all other traffic is restricted to a contraflow system.
