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Truck traffic in June 2019 is down 14% compared to June 2018, mainly due to the impact of weakness in the automotive sector, which has been slow to restart after spring shutdowns. Express courier flows continue to hold up well. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 810,000 trucks have crossed the Channel on Le Shuttle Freight services (down 4%).

The delay to Brexit due to the political uncertainty in the UK seems to be affecting economic activity, as shown by macroeconomic indicators and a contraction in industrial production.

Multimodal is the UK and Ireland's leading freight transport and logistics exhibition. It will take place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham between Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th June 2019.

As anticipated, April 2019 saw a reduction in truck traffic (-12% compared to April 2018) following the high levels of inventory built by British businesses during the first three months of the year, in the lead up to an expected Brexit date of 29 March. The stockpiling seen in January, February and March has been compensated by the reduction of stock levels for non-perishable goods in April. At the same time, several car plants brought forward their annual shutdowns, normally held in August, to April, again limiting the associated delivery requirements. This “unique seasonality” was also compounded by the impact of striking French customs officers.

Le Shuttle Freight transported 152,943 trucks in March 2019, an increase of 5% compared to March 2018. Since the beginning of the year 440,012 trucks have crossed the Channel with Le Shuttle.

Your drivers will need to ensure that they have their customs and sanitary documents* before arriving on the terminal. Failure to present the requirement documents may prevent the vehicles from travelling.

On Thursday 4 April, Eurotunnel officially handed over buildings intended for customs, veterinary and phytosanitary inspection services, to the French authorities, represented by Fabien Sudry, Prefet of the Pas-de-Calais region.