RHA and FTA call for Brexit meetings with new PM
Following a tumultuous few weeks in British politics, trade associations representing the road transport sector have called for dialogue with the new prime minister, Theresa May, to ensure the industry’s interests are protected during and beyond the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) is pressing for a meeting with the prime minister “as soon as possible”, to discuss the implications for the UK’s recent referendum result on the road transport sector.
Congratulating Mrs May on her new role, RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said it was essential that the prime minister understood the needs and interests of the road haulage industry as Brexit negotiations proceed.
“We enjoyed a constructive relationship with Mrs May’s team when she was home secretary, which resulted in added security for our cross-Channel drivers who were suffering violence and intimidation as a result of the migrant crisis,” said Burnett.
“She was also tremendously supportive of the RHA’s role in supporting the ex-veterans charity, Care After Combat.
“We are looking forward to a continued positive working relationship with her and her new Number 10 team in the coming weeks and months.”
Burnett earlier assured members that the RHA would be “keeping close to government to ensure the best deal for UK road hauliers”. He called for “clear, demonstrative leadership” from government, adding that the impact of Brexit for the industry “could be considerable”.
“It is our responsibility as the only organisation solely dedicated to the UK haulage sector to ensure that the issues are urgently addressed and the transition between now and leaving the EU to be a smooth as possible,” he said.
Mrs May will primarily work alongside newly-appointed ‘Brexit secretary’, David Davis, to negotiate Britain’s EU withdrawal. It is not yet clear what form the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will take, and the exact package negotiated will have far-reaching implications for the transport industry.
For example, remaining in the European Economic Area would be likely to allow the UK to enjoy continued access to the single market, and therefore free movement of goods. However, the free movement of goods and the free movement of people have hitherto been inseparable under the terms of the European project.
Mr Davis has previously suggested that this point would be negotiable, but senior European politicians insist that without the free movement of people, the UK cannot expect unrestricted access to the single market. A perceived excess of immigration is frequently cited as one of the key motivations for the British population voting Leave.
The free movement of goods between the UK and the rest of the world has been highlighted by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) as a fundamental priority for Mrs May during the Brexit negotiations.
In a letter to the prime minister, FTA chief executive David Wells also requested a meeting, calling on Mrs May to “prioritise the logistics industry” and adding that it was “essential” that arrangements were secured to protect the UK’s ability to import and export goods.
FTA had already identified tariff-free access to the European single market as one of the key priorities for its international haulage members, which it recently polled on a variety of issues.
“While 64 per cent view the short-term prospects for their businesses with pessimism, only 50 per cent think Britain’s exit from the European Union will make things worse in the long term,” the FTA found.
“Many of those who responded agreed it was too early to make a precise judgement until the new deal has been agreed. The top three priorities were continued full access to the single market, tariff-free access for goods and preservation of access to the single market for services.
“Members are also keen are keen to retain the ability to hire non-UK drivers, who would have the right to work in both the UK and in the single market.”
Chris Yarsley, EU affairs manager at FTA, added: “With the UK’s current driver shortage, it’s no surprise that labour mobility issues are at the forefront of international transport businesses’ minds and this is certainly something FTA will be pressing the government to prioritise this when the negotiations begin.
“These results reflect the fact that companies prefer certainty to the unknown, which is where we find ourselves at the moment. However, FTA and its members are ready to face the challenge head-on and engage with government to obtain the best possible deal so that UK operators can continue to deliver the goods, no matter where they are.”
At the end of June the RHA published a ‘Brexit briefing’, ahead of what it called “an intensive review of regulations and their enforcement”. It highlighted the large degree of uncertainty surrounding most aspects of Brexit pertinent to the road transport sector.
“It is important to recognise that at this stage the terms of Brexit could mean that very little will change in terms of transport regulation – or that everything which originates from Brussels will, potentially, be open to amendment or scrapped altogether,” said the RHA in its briefing.
“We are unlikely to know which it will be for some time.”
It did, however, highlight Driver CPC (DCPC) as an area which was already attracting questions from members following the Brexit vote.
“Depending on the deal we cut with the EU, and when that happens, the DCPC will still be applied or will be up for potential revision/scrapping,” said the RHA.
“If we are able to revise, it might go in its current form, at the very least. Even if new rules were not in place, it is quite possible to imagine a relaxation of regulatory and enforcement pressure if a new regime were on its way, not least given budget cuts. That should not be assumed, however.”
The association suggested that Scotland would retain the DCPC if it went independent, whereas the situation in Northern Ireland was “less clear”.
“International drivers would still need the DCPC,” it said.
The RHA noted that many of its members would want to see substantial changes to the DCPC scheme, or wholesale abolition.
However, it did point to what it called a marked change in attitudes since the introduction of the periodic training requirement, leading to: “some minority support in the industry, combined with a much stronger sense that we should have a UK version which retained continuous professional development for drivers in some way.”
It added: “Members will decide whether to continue with DCPC training or defer it,” but emphasised that “the legal obligations which are set out in UK regulation remain unchanged. New entrants require their DCPC initial qualification and the requirement for 35 hours of approved training remains in place.”
Other areas of concern highlighted by the RHA include the Road Transport Directive. The association contends that the current two sets of rules on driver working time “is an example of bad law-making,” and said it would contribute to “strong pressure on this set of rules” should change be possible in the context of the exact Brexit package negotiated.
Again, it emphasised that working time rules remain unchanged for the time being.
The RHA also pointed to the prospect of sharp cost rises for hauliers if the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar and euro was maintained.
“Fuel costs will already have started to rise and new vehicle costs will rise sharply,” it said. “This should, ideally, feed through to increased haulage rates but market rates will decide that issue.
“The increasing costs to hauliers will presumably be mirrored among importers and the price of goods to consumers, depending on the value of the pound.”
Meanwhile, FTA published an ‘ABC guide’ to key Brexit issues for the logistics industry, among which it highlighted border controls as an area of concern.
“Will they remain juxtaposed in Calais where security for truck drivers can be maximised or will they be repatriated back to Kent and migrants able to leave France unimpeded?” asked FTA.
This aspect of French-UK cooperation has already been brought into question by the Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart, who shortly after the referendum result called on the French government to consider renegotiating the existing treaty that allows British border forces to check vehicles for illegal immigrants prior to accessing ferry services and the Tunnel.
The French authorities have since played down suggestions that this arrangement could change, but any such move could have the effect of relocating migrant camps from Calais to Kent – with hauliers potentially facing longer waits in Dover rather than prior to crossing the Channel.
Enforcement of cross-border traffic was essential, said FTA, in avoiding queues of waiting traffic so that Operation Stack does not “become a permanent feature of life in Kent”.
It added that clarity on what documentation would be required for goods, trucks and drivers crossing international borders would be “crucial details in making the new trade deal work in practice”.
On domestic legislation, FTA pointed out that an “enormous body” of UK law, based on EU regulations, would need to be unpicked.
“What will be kept, what will be scrapped?” it asked. “And do international hauliers have to learn two set of rules, one for when their trucks are in the UK and another for when they are in the EU?”
The association also called for fuel duty cuts, improved investment in ports, road and rail links, and special arrangements for Irish traffic to and from the Continent, “to avoid the burdens of goods and vehicles exiting and re-entering the EU as they transit through the UK”.
