Road hauliers says government has no plan for no-deal Brexit

Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling has no credible contingency plans for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, road haulage firms have warned.

Haulier industry bosses said Grayling seemed to know nothing about their sector since he appeared to be unaware that British lorry drivers would be unable to carry goods into Europe if the UK leaves the bloc without a deal.

"People who know nothing about this industry are making vital decisions on it, and that is clear when you talk to Chris Grayling about what Brexit will mean to the UK international transport community...he is out of touch and lacking in key information," Kevin Hopper, managing director of Brian Yeardley Continental, told The Telegraph.

The road hauliers fear the government is not carrying out sufficient planning for a scenario where the UK comes crashing out of Europe and are assuming a trade deal will be struck eventually.

Hopper, a member of the Road Haulage Association with 40 years industry experience, told the newspaper he and his colleagues had tried to warn the Transport Secretary of the consequences of leaving Europe without a deal but felt Grayling did not understand the severity of the situation and the potential problems the industry would suffer.

The lorry drivers also warned the government against creating a giant lorry park at Dover to prevent tailbacks on the M20. They said it would only benefit holidaymakers and not commercial traffic.

"We would be sat there for days and days, costing a fortune just to get us out the way of Joe Public," said Hooper.

Road haulers were disappointed that Grayling could offer no clarity or potential solutions for the problems created by Brexit.

Grayling recently told the BBC's 'Today' programme he would be willing to maintain alignment with EU rules to avoid disruption to British manufacturing

"I didn’t campaign to leave the EU in order to have a different specification of motorcar in France and in the UK and so I can accept having alignment on the technical specifications of manufactured goods, if that is the price we need to pay in order to have a sensible relationship in the future. None of us wants no-deal, none of us are working towards that. I think it would be damaging for both this country and the European Union," he said.