The Road Ahead: Why Freight and Vehicle Transport is No Longer Frictionless
Since the UK left the EU Single Market and Customs Union, the road transport sector—the backbone of goods movement—has faced its most significant regulatory upheaval in a generation. The transition has replaced seamless trade with a dense layer of cost, complexity, and customs checks.
Here is a breakdown of the specific, high-friction challenges hitting car transporters and general road haulage businesses.
🚗 Section 1: The Specialist Pain of Vehicle Transport
Specialist companies moving vehicles—from new cars on transporters to classic vehicles requiring meticulous care—are experiencing a unique blend of financial and administrative hurdles.
The Tariff Threat: Rules of Origin (RoO)
To qualify for zero tariffs under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), a car must prove its “origin” through minimum UK or EU content. This is a massive financial threat:
- New Cars & EVs: Manufacturers struggle to meet the content thresholds, particularly for Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries. If the rules are not met, a punitive 10% tariff is applied, adding significant cost to the vehicle itself, not just the transport.
- Used & Classic Cars: Proving the origin of older, used, or classic vehicles for customs is now complex, requiring new, detailed documentation for every movement.
Paperwork and Delays at the Border
Every single vehicle movement between the UK and the EU is now an import/export operation requiring a customs declaration. This volume of paperwork is a major administrative burden.
- ATA Carnets: For classic and specialist vehicles transported temporarily (e.g., for races or exhibitions), the use of an ATA Carnet is often required. This involves complex documentation and posting a financial bond, significantly adding to both time and cost.
- Increased Delays: A single paperwork error on one car on a transporter carrying 10-15 vehicles can hold up the entire load, leading to significant driver time wastage and unpredictability for logistics firms.
🚛 Section 2: General Freight and Haulage Disruption
The general road freight sector has been fundamentally disrupted across four critical areas: Cost, Complexity, Capacity, and Customs.
1. Rising Costs & The “Empty Return” Problem
The loss of seamless movement has driven up costs throughout the supply chain.
- The Single Biggest Cost Factor: The “Empty Return” Problem. EU-based hauliers are often unwilling to pick up return export loads from the UK due to the time, risk, and complexity of dealing with UK customs.
- The Result: EU hauliers price the initial UK-bound import journey as a round trip (import and empty return), making UK imports significantly more expensive and driving up outbound freight rates due to restricted supply.
- Administrative Overheads: Businesses have invested in new customs staff/brokers, training, and IT systems to manage declarations and VAT rules (like postponed VAT accounting).
- Physical Checks (SPS): The introduction of physical checks on animal and plant products (SPS checks) at the UK border adds further cost and time, especially for time-sensitive deliveries like fresh produce.
2. Administrative and Border Friction
The sheer bureaucracy has slowed down operations and increased the risk of delays.
- “Red Tape Burden”: Every shipment requires a customs declaration, commodity codes, and proof of origin documentation. Even small mistakes can lead to the truck being diverted for inspection.
- Inconsistent Application: UK hauliers report significant frustration over the inconsistent interpretation of trade rules across different EU member states.
- New Border Systems: Drivers must navigate new systems like the UK’s Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) and the EU’s planned Entry/Exit System (EES), which require new pre-planning and compliance steps.
3. Capacity and Labour Shortages
The ability of the UK road freight sector to operate at full capacity has been severely limited.
- Loss of EU Labour: The end of the free movement of people contributed significantly to the exodus of qualified EU HGV drivers from the UK, exacerbating the severe labour shortage.
- Reduced Efficiency: Border delays reduce the number of trips a driver/truck can complete per week, which effectively reduces the overall capacity of the haulage fleet.
4. Operational Limitations
- Cabotage Restrictions: New rules are more restrictive on how UK hauliers can perform domestic deliveries (Cabotage) within the EU after an international trip, limiting their ability to “earn money” while their trucks are abroad.
- SME Impact: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have struggled the most, with many ceasing to trade with the EU altogether as the administrative burden and new costs have eroded profit margins.
💡 The Bottom Line
The overall trend for UK transport companies operating internationally is clear: one of higher costs, lower efficiency, and greater complexity compared to the pre-Brexit period of seamless trade within the EU single market. The road ahead for logistics remains one of navigation through persistent border friction.
🤔 What’s Your View?
Has the increased cost of shipping changed the way your business imports or exports goods? Share your experiences in the comments below.