Trucks full of onions from the Zeeland company Dacomex are sometimes standing for hours in the endless row of trucks heading for the United Kingdom this week. Due to the approaching Brexit, British companies are already stocking up on goods en masse. This resulted in significant delays around the French canal ports of Calais and Dunkirk.
“We deliver our onions to markets all over England, including London. Order them shortly in advance. That is so precise, it is hardly possible to delay. Because if we are not on time, the market will be closed before the onions arrive” , says Maarten van Damme, responsible for onion sales to England at Dacomex.
It is not the only Dutch transport company that connects in the traffic jams. “We are also very bothered by it”, says Kerim Erikci, UK logistics planner at Wolter Koops Logistics. One of his refrigerated trucks was delayed by six hours. “I don’t make customers happy with that.”
Christmas, Corona and Brexit
The major bottleneck is the tunnel from Calais to Folkestone. That is the most important route for trucks from the Netherlands. “We transport as much as we can,” said a Eurotunnel spokesperson. “But demand from the UK is huge. Businesses are hoarding there.”
The Christmas period has always been busy. The corona crisis is also creating more demand. “The stores here have been open again since December 2, so they have to fill the shelves again,” said the Eurotunnel spokesperson. “But it is extra pressure because companies are stocking up on Brexit.”
Today it was extremely busy again at Calais:
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