b'16American Journal of Transportation ajot.comBrexit: The Irish conundrum (CARNAGEcontinued fromdoavastarrayofpaperwork,side the port of Dover waiting page 10) where every single shipment hasforferriesfortransportacross As of next year, we will seeto have the customs declaration,thechannel.Thegovernment By Matt Miller, AJOT a move from the traditional ferryevery single shipment going intois constructing some 29 inland transport,accompaniedtrans- the EU has to have a separatebordercheckpointsthroughout NorthernIrelandstandsasorigin documentation.port,tounaccompaniedtrans- safety and security declaration,thecountry,butthereslittle oneofthemostcomplicated,So far, at least, truck driv- port, said Dillen. We believesaid Buchanan. accommodation for trucks in the critical and seemingly contradic- ers wont need permits to haulthat in the midterm, you will seeRightnow,everyoneisqueues to the ports.tory aspects of Brexit. The goodgoods from Ireland to Northernan increased containerization ofattemptingtogettheirhandsThe same kind of horrible news:TheUnitedKingdomIreland, and vice-versa. The EUthe cargo that transits now overaroundregulations,whichwilldelays could well be felt on the governmentofBorisJohnsonand UK agreed to a six-monththe Channel with trucks, in fer- governtrade. TheyarecomplexFrench side as well.andConservativePartymajor- unfetteredroadaccessagree- ries, said Dillen. andinvolveadizzyingarrayofNightmare visions could turn ity lawmakers earlier this monthment.ButlogisticsprovidersDillen, whose port stands tosoftware protocols, data entry andintoself-fulfillingprophecies, backeddownfromathreatinworry that if theres no free tradegain from an increase in short- customsdeclarations.Logisticsregardless of what officials do to September to scuttle parts of aagreement, mandated permittingsea,containerizedfreight,isproviders just dont have the man- improveconditions.Thousands protocolinkedwiththeEUinwill follow. understandably upbeat about thepower available to service everyofdriverscouldbailoncross-early 2020.Irelandhasbeenbracingprospects. The container solu- shipperwhoisnowrushingtoChannel haulage, not wanting to Thisprotocolinsuresthatfor Brexits fallout for years. Itstionmightnowbecomemoremeet the Jan. 1 requirements. get stuck in the morass, triggering NorthernIreland,aterritorynot just political, but economic.attractive because its very reli- If they havent got the dataacute capacity problems. Or, more withintheUK,continuestoWhile it has weaned itself awayable, he believes. But its alsoin the right format, then we cantlikely, theyll demand compensa-enjoy unfettered access and freefromaformerdependenceonmore efficient and faster than ifeven pick the goods up. So wetion, increasing the cost of cross-trade with Ireland, and thus withtheUKmarket,Irelandstillyou have to wait and lose hourscan have the best systems in theborder haulage.the EU. If Johnson and his alliesreliesheavilyontheBritishof time in a ferry port.world and the best trained staff had scuppered the deal, a hardfor Irish food products exports.Containers,Dillenadded,intheworld.Butifthatcom- F iNgerp oiNtiNgborder between the two IrelandsFully one half of Irelands beefcan be pre-cleared, and unloadedmercial invoice doesnt get to usTheresallsortsoffinger couldwellhavedestroyedaand one-third of its daily prod- from a ship the moment it reachesat the right time with the rightpointing, but it appears that the decades-longNorthernIrelanductsareexportedtotheUK.theberth,allowingrapidtrans- information on, we cant moveBritishhaveplannedandexe-peaceandmarkedareturntoMostIrishexportsanywhereshipment.Dillenalsobelievesthe goods, said Shally. Thatscuted far less than their EU coun-sectarian violence. arecoursedthroughtheUK,that in some cases, trucks will bean education piece that tradersterparts,perhapsbecausethey The border between Irelandaccording to the Irish politicianplaced on ferries and transportedreally do need to get their headswere too focused on negotiating and Northern Ireland will remainNeale Richmond, writing in theacross the Channel without driv- around.Theyveneverhadtoatradedealthanpreparingfor free of any constraints. In return,FinancialTimeslastmonth.ers, although this poses logisticalworry about it before. the detrimental impacts of Brexit. Northern Ireland agrees to con- Irelands difficulty is not nec- problems as well, as they must beThe one-two punch of CovidEugene Drennan, president of the tinuefollowingEUcustomsessarily in selling its goods butdriven off the ferries immediatelyand Brexit has made preparationsIrish Road Haulage Association, and single-market rules on suchin physically transporting themupon landing.that much trickier and, in manytoldtheBBCthatmayhem matters as food standards, evento the wider world, Richmondcases, delayed action. could ensue in the ferry port of though it is part of the UK. pointed out.D Uals ystem ? ToimaginethescopeofHolyhead because while the Irish This doesnt mean all goodsAlready,therearegraveAlready, many shippers andtheproblem,envisionpassportauthoritieshaveshownarea-can flow effortlessly to and fromconcerns that Brexit will causetheiragentshavemovedfromcontrol. Even the most efficientsonable degree of preparedness, IrelandandBritainthroughafreighttrafficmeltdowninasingle,centralwarehousetosay,Singaporecangetthe British still wont make nec-NorthernIreland.TherewillDublin and Holyhead, similar toadualormulti-system,oneinbogged down by dozens of plansessary decisions. They underes-be customs checks on Irish SeatheconcernsthatswirlaroundBritain and others in the EU.disgorging thousands of visitorstimatethedifficultiestransport ports,bothferryterminalsandDover and Calais.Thereareseriouslimita- at once. Think about what hap- operatorsandtheircustomers containerfacilities.Ferryter- Dublin, for example, accountstionstoovercome,however.pens when one of those in linewill face, critics charge.minals, for example, link Holy- for85%ofIrishtradewithSmallerwarehousesthrough- doesnt have proper papers. TheThisrefusaltofacereal-head, Wales and Dublin, as wellBritain,andmuchoftheout Europe just dont have thedelays cascade back in line. ity became most apparent when as Belfast with both Liverpoolgoods moving to Northern Ire- proper footprint to service con- Now,applythattotrucksJohnsonsConservativeParty and Cairnryan, in Scotland.land from Britain as well. Buttainers.Britishcontainerhaul- movinginandoutofBritain.compatriots threatened towalk Goods that are transportedaccess to Dublin port is via aerswillbesorelystretchedasBeginninginJanuary,eachaway from the accord governing fromIrelandtoNorthernIre- tunnel and rules prohibit stand- well, and British container portsdrivermustpresentdocu- Northern Ireland trade with Ire-landandthenshippedonwarding traffic in the tunnel. Whenwill likely face capacity issues.ments on what goods are beingland and the rest of the EU. (see toBritainwillbesubjecttotrafficjamsoccur,truckswillWhats more, maritime contain- shipped,necessaryclearancesbox on this page). customs, rules of origin checks,be diverted along busy motor- ersholdlessthanatruckloadand his or her own passport. TheWeve all spent the last 20 and appropriate tariffs, and vice- ways to a carpark in the backworth of goods, and the weightmost efficient control will meanodd years trying to break down versa. Stringent inspection willof Dublin Airport, and createof the container itself diminishesadelayofminutes.Butwhatborders so quickly and obstruc-be required for foodstuffs.havocforcommuters,Flynncargo, said Buchanan. happensifadriverlacksthetionsgetinyourway.Itjust worries. There is no planning.Icanseeboth[contain- proper documentation? makes things very, very difficult l aND BriDge There is no trialing. Theres noers and unaccompanied transit]Everyonewillbepenal- for everybody, said Flynn.The so-called land bridge,testing. beingdeployed,buttheywillizedforotherpeoplesmis- Atthemoment,thereis overwhichtruckdrivershaveHolyhead now ranks as thenot rapidly address supply chaintakes, said Shally.just a huge lack of knowledge movedgoodsfromIrelandtosecond largest ferry port in theproblems that they are going toTheBritishgovernmentof what needs to be done what the EU via the UK, will requireUK behind Wales. Some 1,200have in January when the thou- itself has predicted a nightmarethe new norm is going to look comprehensivedocumentationtrailertrucksaretransportedsandsoflorriesthatactuallyscenario if theres no free-tradelike, concluded Shally. Well and a new computerized transit(CONUNDRUMcontinuedcomeacrossthatbordertodayagreement,whereasmanyasget there, but its going to take permitting system.on page 19) almost seamlessly will have to7,000 trucks will be stuck out- months of pain.Testshaveonlyrecently started on new software that the UK and EU will require for tran-sit, another cause for concern.Therecouldwellbelast-ingchangestocommerceand transportation. This is the first time really that Ireland will be unalignedwithGreatBritain, saidFlynn.IrelandandIrish businesses want to continue to see if we can develop our trad-ingrelationshipwithBritain. But with Brexit, it makes it more complicated.Businesses in Northern Ire-land are concerned that British suppliers will shy away from the territory once confronted by the levelofnecessarypaperwork, dauntinginfrastructurechal-lenges and complicated systems requirements, Elizabeth de Jong, headofpolicyattradegroup Logistics UK, testified in British parliament last month. Ontheotherhand,more EUgoodsthathavetradition- customs brokers&freight forwardersallyenteredNorthernIreland through the UK, will now likely travelviaIreland.Thatwillwww . jfmoran.com: 800.944.1041allow shippers to bypass bureau-cratic hassles and costly rules of'