January’s lull in cargo is helping freight firms come to terms with the new post-Brexit administration.
There has been no repeat of the port congestion that saw vessels held in the Humber ahead of Britain stepping out of the EU.
DFDS - the largest roll-on roll-off operator at the country’s largest port - said the drop off in movements was helping those at the coalface get to grips with the new customs documentation at the Europe-facing Immingham operation.
Andrew Byrne, managing director, said: “Volume-wise it has been quiet because of the amount of cargo we saw in December. We have seen a lot more units being exported, as the balance has levelled up, a lot of units now delivered going back empty or with new consignments. The congestion that we saw has gone.
“We are seeing a few issues with customs systems, with customers and customers’ customers, be it getting used to new procedures or additional manual checks, but because volumes are lower it is not impacting on the traffic flow.
“If we were as busy as December and having discrepancies it would, but we’re not, so we’re just ironing out the crease and helping customers. Every day is getting lighter and in a couple of weeks we will be in a position where it is routine.”
There have been isolated cases of drivers arriving to collect cargo that has yet to be cleared, containers not hitting sailings due to the same, chiefly on hazardous goods, and early HMRC IT system backlogs.
“We have seen a few truck drivers hanging around frustrated, as previously they could move as soon as they were on the quay. We have also had some units delivered to the quay and not get customs cleared and not get on the ship.
Most Read
“It is 29 years since we have had to do this. We’ve built an entire operation around being frictionless, so it adds another layer of complexity.”
While document checks came in as the 11pm release came on New Year's Eve, physical checks won't be brought in untul July 1.
Almost £50 million is being spent on new border control posts in the Humber to be up and running for then, with new facilities at Hull, Immingham and Killingholme.
Pauline Wade, director of international trade at Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce is heading up a Global Humber Help Desk in collaboration with Humber LEP. She said: "We have been busy. There is still quite a lot of confusion but businesses are turning to us for advice. In the main the big companies are fairly well organised, though we are getting some enquiries, particularly in the food industry. It is the smaller businesses, the SMEs, who are confused with regard to the documentation required for both import and export - issues to do with the acgreement."
One freight forwarder based close to the South Bank ports said he was a little worried about how unprepared many clients were.
“The biggest hurdle is getting people’s heads around the fact that for imports and exports to the EU there are now customs clearance,” he said. “Previously you could ship out and not worry about it.
“If you manufacture in the 海角视频 and only send to Holland and Germany it is quite a big step, but if you deal with China or Australia is it more of the same. Now whether it is Dublin or Dubai the same applies. Shippers and manufacturers that were already globally active are more switched on and used to it.”
Don’t miss
Alan Platt, chairman of Humber-headquartered John Good Logistics and chief executive of the family-owned John Good Group, said his firm has spent the last three years developing a 30-strong team of specialists on all aspects of .
Founded in Hull in 1833, the group is based at the Bridgehead Business Park near Hessle but also operates from 18 other sites across the country.
Speaking at an online seminar about post-Brexit 海角视频-EU trade hosted by The Chamber last week, Mr Platt said: "There is still an unpreparedness across 海角视频 plc, both in small and large companies.
"The reality is that despite all the government advertising telling people for months that they needed to prepare for January 1, no-one really knew what they were preparing for right up to December 24. That led to a large amount of confusion and fuzzy thinking."
Mr Platt said a large degree of uncertainty remained over new customs clearance procedures with many firms worried about goods being held up or even turned away at ports because required paperwork has not been completed properly.
"The implications of getting it wrong are quite severe," he said.
Mr Platt added: "We have seen a lot of stockpiling going on because people did not want to be caught short so warehouses are absolutely rammed at the moment.
"In terms of the effects on business, there is a huge new administrative burden at both ends of the supply chain.
"It's estimated there are 150,000 exporters in the 海角视频 who have never ventured outside of the EU so they have never had to deal with customs clearance before. That's a very large number. In terms of additional cost, it's estimated it's going to cost 海角视频 businesses an extra £7 billion per year."
Mr Platt said he expected to see firms re-thinking supply chains with a slow but steady shift away from exporting to Europe, creating more opportunities for domestic trade.
"I think we will end up seeing fewer European lorries on roads.
"As for the effect on warehousing, the model of just-in-time delivery which the 海角视频 was an early adopter of is going to change to just-in-case because of the new risks and uncertainties around customs clearance at the borders."
Speaking at the same event, the commercial manager of the port of Esbjerg in Denmark said its new border control post for goods arriving from the 海角视频 was already up and running.
And looking at the reverse model, he said the 海角视频 was Denmark's third most important export market with regular large loads of bacon, butter and pork currently being shipped to the Humber.
He also highlighted close trading links relating to the offshore wind industry and predicted some potential problems for the sector as a result of the 海角视频's exit from the EU.
"With offshore wind, we have long regarded the North Sea as one market with no borders but now we have a border.
"It's going to be complicated but we have to solve this if we want to keep bringing the cost of energy down and keep to our goals on green energy.
"We have been dealing with the 海角视频 since the Vikings so we will get over this."
The Global Humber Help Desk is staffed by a team of advisors. For help email help@globalhumber.co.uk or call 01482 324976 or 07810 544214.
What is your take on the changes? Let us know in the comments field below.