HMRC has robustly defended its ability to migrate 5,000 UK importers and exporters to new customs software by March 2023, rebuffing accusations that systems will “collapse”. Yesterday, The Loadstar reported software house claims that the department has failed to take seriously the complexity of the switch from Customs Handling of Import and...
Container spot rates from Asia may have eased slightly from their record highs, post-Chinese new year, but rates for backhaul and secondary trades continue to head north. According to today’s Freightos Baltic Index (FBX), the spot rate for North Europe is $7,684 per 40ft, down from more than $8,000 at the beginning...
Industry experts have expressed “grave concerns” at the UK government’s “unnecessary insistence” on implementation of the new Customs Declaration System (CDS). Chair of the Association of Freight Software Suppliers Steve Bartlett and director general of the UK Association for International Trade Des Hiscock told the EU goods sub-committee CDS was “not ready”...
Logistics providers in the automotive sector have been warned to brace for one of the sharpest downturns in living memory. There are fears the multiple effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit spell a double-digit decline in vehicle sales this year. According to new analysis from Transport Intelligence (Ti), the market is forecast...
Continued delay in the roll-out of post-Brexit IT infrastructure has stymied the logistics industry’s capacity to hire and train staff to work with the new systems. One forwarder told The Loadstar that, without having access to the Check HGV (formerly, SmartFreight) or the Good Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) systems, they were unable...
Industry and government need to stop fighting and work together over the next 11 weeks if the UK is to be prepared for Brexit, a transport select committee was told today. Director of policy at Logistics UK Elizabeth de Jong cautioned against engaging in a “blame game”, after minister for efficiency and...
