FTA: Operation Stack hauliers should be compensated

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has today called for compensation to be considered for those hauliers affected by Operation Stack.

Figures from the FTA put the cost to UK hauliers stuck in Operation Stack on the M20 in Kent at over £21M during the 28 days (23rd June -2nd August) it was implemented. This figure does not include any other loss of business such as spoilt cargoes, missed export deadlines or the percentage of journeys diverted while Operation Stack was in force.

The Association estimates that the crisis was costing the UK freight industry £750,000 a day, as trucks were stopped on closed sections of the major access route to Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover.

Operation Stack was put into action during the cross channel disruption and used in recent weeks in wake of the French industrial action and the threat of migrants gaining access to the Channel Tunnel.

The FTA’s request comes as Home Secretary Theresa May and French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve meet today in Calais to discuss how to handle the migrant crisis and to consider increasing security around the site where thousands of migrants are currently camped.

James Hookham, FTA’s Deputy Chief Executive, said: “FTA is calling on the French Government to consider compensation for UK freight operators to help recover some of their losses this summer due to Operation Stack.

“The weeks of chaos on the roads in Kent were unacceptable and we need a long-term solution to Operation Stack – this situation cannot be allowed to happen again. As the industrial dispute with the MyFerryLink workers has not been resolved, there is every likelihood that we could see a repeat performance before the summer is out.

“FTA has calculated that the UK lorries queued during Operation Stack accounted for only 15 per cent of all HGVs affected and therefore the wider costs to hauliers across Europe are significantly higher. So the French Government should accept that they are liable not only for the cost to British hauliers, but to all others involved.”

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