Lorry drivers braced for ‘utter chaos’ in event of no-deal Brexit
THE World Road Transport Organisation (IRU) has warned that British and European lorry drivers would be faced with “complete and utter chaos” in a no-deal Brexit scenario.
The trade union, which represents thousands of road transport workers across 76 countries, said both the EU and the UK would suffer heavy consequences.
It came as the British Government prepared to publish a tranche of documents outlining its contingency plans in the “unlikely event that we are unable to agree the terms of a new relationship with the EU”.
Boris Blanche, the IRU’S managing director, said: “We’re not divided on this issue in the industry, we all want the same thing. If [there is no deal] it’s going to be complete and utter chaos.”
If the UK fails to reach an agreement with the EU on the terms of withdrawal, such as avoiding a hard border in Ireland, all of the EU’S treaties cease to apply. In the road haulage sector, British lorry drivers would not be able to transport goods on the Continent as their licences and qualifications would no longer be recognised.
Instead, the UK would revert to an old-fashioned permit system which only allows a limited number of journeys and would need to be negotiated bilaterally with individual EU countries.
Marc Billiet, the IRU’S senior adviser, said this was likely to be a very timeconsuming process and doubted it could be achieved by Brexit day on March 29 2019. “We are really concerned about this,” he said. “It’s like we are all looking at the sword of Damocles and trying to make sure it doesn’t fall.”
The UK’S Road Haulage Association (RHA) has also raised the alarm about a lack of permits in a no-deal Brexit scenario, while some lorry drivers say they have already had to turn down contracts due to the uncertainty.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, told senior members of the haulage industry in a recent meeting they might benefit from no deal, as they would be free to take on contracts usually fulfilled by EU migrant workers.
But Mr Billiet said: “It might work [for the UK haulage industry] but the question is, can they do it – have they got enough drivers? You might have a bottleneck situation there.”
The RHA is also sceptical, as it says British lorry drivers have been consistently undercut by cheaper European counterparts from Romania and Bulgaria.