NEW. clear signs govt is preparing for coming #brexit turbulence - consulting on new fast-track scheme for food lorries returning to Europe /1 https://on.ft.com/3bDH1HY 

The idea is that 300 lorries a day will be granted 'fast track' permits so they can go back EU and replenish supplies...this is because (see below) the gov fears that potential for disruption is "high" /2

The 8-page consultation document notes this is both because of #Brexit but also because of #COVID19 and continued French insistence on checks on all drivers from UK. /3

Lots arriving in Kent without clear tests SO separately Dept for Transport is considering £150 fines for drivers that don't have clean tests before entering Kent - problem, say hauliers, is that this requires communicating with EU-based drivers (85% from EU) /4

The govt is worried that disruptions will risk the kind of panic-buying we saw in early #COVID19 pandemic /5

They also reveal that before Christmas 25% supermarket deliveries failed; return journey times when from 4 to 8 days...but consumers didn't notice coz supermarkets had so many stockpiles...there will be less flex in system now. /6

Those long return times are the worry because EU drivers won't want to come to UK - so that means finding ways to guarantee they wont get stuck in the Operation Brock queues if they form.

So up to 300/day could get a priority permit if scheme is agreed/7

It will be triggered if a) wait times outside Dover get 8 hours + or b) loads delivered to UK supermarkets falling below 75% of planned expectations for 2 consecutive days.

Lorries will need to show they're coming back within 7 days also /8

Will it work? @RHARodMcKenzie
says much will depend on how it was applied in practice. “Anything that allows food supplies to move faster is a good thing. However, the devil really is in the detail and in the administration of the scheme, if it will work"/9

But another haulage insider reckons the bureaucracy of the scheme doesn't recognise how supply chains really work: “This is just embarrassing, and won’t work. Another knee-jerk scheme, designed for a press release," he tells me /10

Either way, it's a pretty clear sign that Govt is bracing for more problems as pre-xmas stockpiles run down and traffic volumes across short strait ramp back up to normal. We shall see. ENDS