🕒 Article read time: 3 minutes
Modal shift – will EU logistics become less reliant on trucks?
Logistics businesses based in the Netherlands are reporting a shift away from truck transport, given their experience during recent Brexit practice sessions.
SEA AND AIR MORE ATTRACTIVE
At a recent roundtable event hosted by the NFIA (Netherlands Financial Investment Agency) into the impact of Brexit on the Dutch logistics sector, Jochem Sanders, Manager, Business Relations & Business Development Europe, at the Holland International Distribution Council, confirmed that his members were planning to rely less on truck transport in the near future, while sea and air transport were becoming more attractive.
SHIFT TO IRELAND
From a Customs’ perspective, Roel van’t Veld, Brexit Coordinator for the Customs Administration of the Netherlands, said that they saw shifts towards importing and exporting goods directly to and from the Republic of Ireland, without using the UK land bridge.
CUSTOMS CHECKS KEY
Meanwhile, Leon Willems, spokesperson for the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport, said that if the Customs formalities on the UK side prove to be more time consuming after Brexit, “then it might lead to a little less truck traffic and more air traffic”, especially as live animals will need veterinary checks as from 1 January 2021.
However, he said that he suspected that truck traffic will resume after a couple of months, when exporters on both sides of the Channel become accustomed to the new reality. For Willems, the big question is the result of the current trade negotiations: “Because if we have tariffs or quotas, obviously there is price increase for trade, and that’s bad news for trade and trade will be less than it is now.”
*https://investinholland.com/
Published On: 03/12/2020 16:00:59
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