Delays at sea ports have already started due to Brexit

[AtW]

Your Christmas presents may be late
Port troubles leave UK bookseller with no books - BBC News

Just wait till Boris gets all the fish and French fishermen block all ports

[darmstadt]

Bean is too young to get a vote. In any case, the hard words on the ballot paper would confuse him.

Did he put a 'tick' instead of a 'cross'?

[Old Greg]

Did he put a 'tick' instead of a 'cross'?

He got cross with the hard words and then soiled his ballot paper.

[Mordac]

I wonder who recently got a job in regards to Felixstowe port: Felixstowe and Harwich ports owner employs Chris Grayling | Ipswich Star

Having spent some time previously at a freight business, I suspect that it has a lot to do with Covid and little to do with Brexit. There are about 10% of normal flights, so about 10% of normal air-freight capacity. The other 90% has to be moved by ship, hence the spike. Felixstowe is usually run at pretty close to capacity (or so I was once told). I'm sure a competent government (and I include the civil service) ought to have foreseen such an issue (it's not as if Covid appeared last week).
They have probably hired Grayling because he has the numbers of all the people who can influence decision-making. I'm not going to be unkind enough to suggest he won't be asked to actually do anything.

[WTFH]

Having spent some time previously at a freight business, I suspect that it has a lot to do with Covid and little to do with Brexit.

Ah yes, the Wailer’s excuse.
1 month before the end of the transition period and everything is blamed on Covid.

Face it, you won but have failed to deliver. Even the most ardent of the Brexit Youth think that it’s still an ongoing fight, not an inglorious failure.

[Mordac]

Ah yes, the Wailer’s excuse.
1 month before the end of the transition period and everything is blamed on Covid.

Face it, you won but have failed to deliver. Even the most ardent of the Brexit Youth think that it’s still an ongoing fight, not an inglorious failure.

How is a delay in handling container shipments from Asia due to Brexit? If the French port authorities want to make life difficult after 1st Jan, exports will certainly be affected, but we're not talking about exports. What's caused a spike in container traffic if it isn't Covid shutting down most of the air capacity? I know you have to stick to the 'Brexit is going to be sh!te' narrative, but it's a stuck record.

[WTFH]

I realise you will stick to your “It’s the EU’s fault for everything”, but this question is worth reviewing:

What's caused a spike in container traffic

Why was there no “spike” in container traffic during the first lockdown?
If Covid wasn’t the cause then, why is it suddenly the only reason this time round?

[ladymuck]

There wasn't a freight spike in the first lockdown cos most of the Asian manufacturing countries were also in lockdown and not exporting stuff. I made the mistake of ordering something from a Chinese based supplier on eBay and it took three months to reach me (I usually only pick European suppliers).

I think there's a bit of truth in both causes though. Some of it because we need constant supply of PPE coming in, there's also Christmas demand which may be coming in later than usual, and there's an element of Brexit stockpiling. These I think are combining to create a bottleneck that leads to the kind of self defeating behaviour that led to empty supermarket shelves earlier in the year.

An analysis of all the manifests for the past year would help but will never be forthcoming.

[WTFH]

An analysis of all the manifests for the past year would help but will never be forthcoming.

Yes, that would be best. I’d like to see the volumes for air freight as well as ocean. While the rates are climbing, all options still seem to be available to my clients right now.

It’s also interesting that Mordac is blaming the current Covid lockdown - which has been going on for just over 2 weeks - for issues at UK ports that have been going on for 3 months.

[darmstadt]

Having spent some time previously at a freight business, I suspect that it has a lot to do with Covid and little to do with Brexit. There are about 10% of normal flights, so about 10% of normal air-freight capacity. The other 90% has to be moved by ship, hence the spike. Felixstowe is usually run at pretty close to capacity (or so I was once told). I'm sure a competent government (and I include the civil service) ought to have foreseen such an issue (it's not as if Covid appeared last week).
They have probably hired Grayling because he has the numbers of all the people who can influence decision-making. I'm not going to be unkind enough to suggest he won't be asked to actually do anything.

I don't think being a postman really qualifies you as being in the freight business...Actually COVID does have a lot to do with it if you read other articles, apparently there are hundreds of containers of PPE equipment all piled up along with empty ones meaning not enough space for all the Chinese tat for Christmas presents. But still....Chris Grayling?