Metro truck at bay

<strong>Metro road freight preparing for everything</strong>

Nov 30, 2022 | ,

Just a few month’s into his new role and Metro’s Head of European Services, Matt Paxton-Rhodes say’s that instead of future-gazing, his focus is on the resilience of current operations, expanding the trusted partner network and finalising the service-model template, ready to transfer into new markets.

The market softening experienced in the second half of 2022 is going to extend into 2023, with the European road freight market expected to expand well below current inflation levels, as slowing economic growth in the EU weakens demand for road freight services in, through and out of Europe.

The outlook for the European road freight market will depend on the outcome of various unpredictable factors, including inflation, consumer demand, driver shortages and fuel costs.

Looking across Europe, we are anticipating a considerable variance in performance, with Turkey and Eastern Europe markets likely to perform better than Western European countries, like Germany, Italy and the UK, that are likely to be some of the slowest-growing road freight markets in 2023.

Despite the slowdown UK road haulage capacity is still stretched, by driver shortages and more directly by European truckers reluctance to cross into the UK, without the guarantee of return loads and no border delays.

Metro’s partner network resolves these issues, by providing access to capacity, drivers and specialised equipment, like mega-trailers, that can supercharge supply chain effectiveness.

By blending partner capacity, specialised equipment and operational excellence, Metro develop resilient road freight solutions for the most complex supply chain, like serving a manufacturer’s plants in the UK, Germany and Turkey, with rigid timescales and service levels.

In supporting this client’s manufacturing model. three to four trailers operate daily between each plant, shuttling components and ‘knocked down' shipments with defined delivery deadlines, using GPS tracked trucks to provide full transparency on transit schedules throughout Europe.

Vehicles can be single, double, or even treble-manned, depending on the route and urgency of the load, to take the “Just in time” concept to the optimum level.

Commenting on his experience with Metro, Matt said. “We have the right partners in place, across Europe and our service template is proven, which means we can swiftly roll out pan-European road freight solutions for the most demanding needs, between any location and country.”

“We are seeing more retail manufacturing near-shoring to Turkey and the Iberian peninsula, which are two of our strongest markets and we are very excited by the opportunities that our group's new ‘Ellerman City Liners’ short-sea service will provide throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.”

“Intermodal solutions are incredibly cost-effective and while they may have longer transit times, they are the perfect choice for those that can flex their supply chains, industrial and other less time-sensitive verticals.”

To learn more about our European capability, including our Turkish services, road freight template, or intermodal solutions EMAIL Matt now.

Dover istock

<strong>New EU border controls threaten cross-channel delays</strong>

Nov 2, 2022 | , ,

Almost 60% of all UK-EU trade passes through the UK short straits and ensuring their operational stability is key to facilitating and maximising international trade, but EU border controls due to take effect next May threaten to impact their resilience and sustainability.

The European Entry/Exit System (EES) will replace wet stamping of passports and require Britons to register biometrics including facial and fingerprint scans on their first border crossing into the EU, and then be scanned on subsequent crossings.

Britons travelling to the European continent have been warned to expect huge delays at ferry ports and the Channel Tunnel from May 2023, with the launch of the scheme expected to be chaotic.

The technology the EU is implementing to support the EES rollout was designed for airports and railway stations, where passengers approach individually in queues and under French laws, the information must be gathered in the presence of a border official and cannot be subcontracted.

The head of EU exit for the Dover Harbour Board, told MPs last year that there is no such thing as an eGate for a car, and there is no such thing as an eGate process for people travelling as a group. They’re all one-at-a-time processes, which means that at British exit ports, EES would require car passengers and commercial vehicle drivers to exit their vehicles at French border controls to undertake passport checks; in addition to compromising the safety of drivers, it would also delay just-in-time supply chains.

The port of Dover has voiced fears - that are supported by Logistics UK and other freight trade associations - that EES will not work in a ferry port where there could be hundreds of cars waiting to get onto ferries and with up to 10,000 lorries crossing every day, any disruption to processing cars for departure, could lead to prolonged freight delays.

Experts suggest that EES could extend passenger processing times, currently averaging 90 seconds per car by a few minutes, which Imperial College forecasts would trigger 29-mile queues.

The Port of Dover, ferry operators, Logistics UK and the British Ports Association (BPA) are lobbying the government to address the looming threats to traffic fluidity from the EU Entry Exit System (EES) and support new border control infrastructure.

Metro are at the forefront of UK/EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of customs experts, reacting swiftly to any changes in the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.

To learn how we can simplify and automate customs declarations for your businesses, please EMAIL Elliot Carlile to review the options.

Terms of trade will trip you up

Metro are getting BIGGER in Europe

Oct 19, 2022 | , , , ,

Metro has been shipping freight to, from and across Europe since 1981, using road, rail and short-sea services to create country and product-specific transport solutions. Our new Head of European Services, Matt Paxton-Rhodes, wants to make these award-winning solutions available to more shippers, in more verticals.

Metro’s European transport solutions are designed to meet the needs of individual customers, many of whom have entrusted the management and operation of their supply chain to Metro. 

Safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, Metro plan and arrange the time-definite transport of components intra-Europe, and finished products from the manufacturer or producer, to their final point of use on the European continent.

The European team is experienced in orchestrating and overseeing the timely, cost-effective transport of goods to anywhere in Europe, using rail, short-sea and carrier partners’ modern fleet of vehicles. Designed to transport loads of any size and type, including out-of-gauge, refrigerated and automotive.

Metro’s new Head of European Services, Matt Paxton-Rhodes, has held senior executive roles with some of the biggest global carriers and forwarders, gaining an enviable breadth of experience, knowledge and contacts along the way.

It is a sign of Metro’s growth and stature, that a senior industry professional like Matt is excited by his move and the opportunity to transform the European product.

Matt is very clear on the factors that attracted him to Metro:

People - The passion of the senior team and their total commitment to customers and colleagues.

Power - The flat reporting structure and the empowering of management to make decisions gives Metro the agility to react quickly to customers’ needs. Now.

Product - Metro’s European product is established, proven and effective, with a distinct opportunity for replication in new verticals and geographies. 

Platform – We will always provide all options and best fit recommendations – regardless of the requirement for overland trucking. Trade with our closest markets continues to change, almost daily – so do we with our solutions.

Despite only being with the business for less than a year, Matt has set his sights on some short term objectives. 

“The Metro team has extensive knowledge of European transport and customs compliance arrangements, which means they are well experienced in providing the most appropriate solutions for transporting goods in the fastest, safest and most reliable ways, to deadline and including for JIT operations.”

“Having an established and effective core-product means that I can focus on building a dedicated team to increase capacity, by taking our best-practice and matching it closely to the needs of new verticals, on new routes.”

“Turkey, an increasingly popular location for near-shoring, is a good place to start as it is one of our most established routes and the potential for growth is immense.”

‘’Our brokerage team are market leading and cutting edge – the whole end to end piece is naturally part of the offer and it is a very compelling proposition that we design around our customers individual needs and requirements.’’

If you would like to explore our European capability, or learn more about our Turkish services, EMAIL Matt now. It will be 5 minutes well used!

P and O

July UK border updates – consistent trade with the EU Bloc

Jul 7, 2022 | , ,

The government, who would like your feedback on UK border controls, have announced an unexpected border easement, but another one that nearly a quarter of a million traders would welcome is unlikely to happen.

Customs Declaration Service
The customs handling of import and export freight system (CHIEF) has been in use by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for nearly 30 years and is being replaced from the 30th September 2022.

Metro clients will be migrated onto the CDS platform and will maintain the same support currently provided by our export, import and off service brokerage teams, but they must be registered to use CDS. 

With just three months to go HMRC recently contacted 220,000 businesses, to urge them to move over to CDS, because it takes time to move across, depending on the size and nature of their business and they must start the process now to ensure they are fully set up ahead of the 30th September deadline.

Effective from last Tuesday all new registrations must be made on the Customs Declaration Service, because CHIEF is closing for import declarations on the 30th September and HMRC needs time to ensure that the shutdown proceeds in an orderly manner.

It consequently appears extremely unlikely that the September switch-off date for CHIEF, for UK imports, will be postponed and the date is now set in stone.

Brokerage manager, Andy Fitchett, “We’re ahead of the curve, hiring 35 brokers to ready us for the CDS launch, with procedures, processes and training in place. We’re going through the process of getting our clients onboard now, and our aim is to have this done by August, so we can spend September organising any stragglers.

SEE OUR GUIDE

Safety and security easements
On the 1st July HMRC introduced four new border easements, focused around the submission of safety and security (S&S) information and designed to simplify the movement of vehicles taking goods into and out of the UK.

The announced changes will benefit hauliers, because they will not be burdened with the administration of creating documentation for the port of departure and will benefit the ports of departure in the UK because the haulier can move through the port unheeded.

The quicker circulation of vehicles does means that equipment should be available to shippers faster.

SEE OUR REPORT

Border users survey
The government’s 2025 UK Border Strategy is intended to make the UK border the most effective in the world, embracing innovation and simplified processes and your experiences will help them understand how the border can be improved.

With improved security and biosecurity, the ambition is to make border documentation digital, to reduce complexity for traders and the border industry.

The new Target Operating Model will set out the transformative programme that will digitise the border; harnessing new technologies and data to reduce friction and costs for businesses and consumers.

The government’s border users survey aims to understand how the experience of the border can be improved through digitisation of government or trade documentation and processes.

ACCESS THE SURVEY HERE

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY THE 11TH JULY 2022

Our customs brokerage team have been processing live entries through CDS and our CuDoS automated customs platform has been updated for and integrated with CDS for nationwide declarations, at any point of entry or exit.

Metro are at the forefront of UK/EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of customs experts, reacting swiftly to any changes in the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.

To learn how we can simplify and automate customs declarations for your businesses, please contact Elliot Carlile to talk through the options.

Category: EU

Brexit | Customs | EU

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