The increase in tourist traffic for Easter and the reduced flights from Dover, where many P&O ships are still out of order after the mass dismissal of crew members, are combined with delays at customs to wreak havoc on port roads, with sections The M20 motorway in Kent has been turned into a temporary truck park as heavy vehicles wait to reach France. Transport experts have blamed the deadlock on the weekly shutdown of one of the government’s new commercial portals, the GVMS. It first encountered problems on March 30 and was not available for use by traders and carriers from the next day. Drivers are warned that they may not be operational until Monday. The GVMS, developed by and under the responsibility of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has been shut down after being temporarily taken offline during an update to another government customs system, which handled import and export cargo known as Chief. Ciaran Donovan, a UK-based driver who regularly transports goods back and forth between Britain and the continent, said he was unable to use the GVMS gateway to obtain the GMR – a barcode – required to leave the UK last Wednesday. “I had to cancel a job in Paris on Thursday, which was embarrassing,” he said. GVMS users trying to access the service have been notified at least twice last week that the system will be up and running again soon. However, those dates came and went and the government said the GVMS would not be operational again until noon on Monday. Traders trying to access GVMS are notified that HMRC is “still investigating current issues” with the service. HMRC, meanwhile, has implemented emergency measures, allowing carriers to prove other evidence that a customs declaration has been lodged for the exit or transport of goods to the UK, including a transit accompanying document or registration reference number. Despite these temporary measures, truckers say the requirement to provide different customs information is likely to increase processing time at the border. The GMR barcode can be scanned and is considered time-saving. An HMRC spokesman said: “Our IT systems are stable: we have put in place emergency procedures to ensure that businesses can keep goods and merchandise moving while we return to full service.” They apologized for any inconvenience and said they would work closely with customers to avoid disruption, adding that HMRC took “the resilience of the system very seriously”. Donovan said the current shutdown meant he was considering whether to accept future courier jobs. “I would rather not work than sit there for 20 hours trying to leave the country,” he said. Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Freight Association, described the weekly GVMS downtime as “really useless” at a time of “accumulation” of other problems. Ships typically operated by P&O Ferries are still out of action after the company laid off 800 employees last month, representing one-third of Dover’s normal ferry capacity. Bad weather has also delayed some services in recent days as tourist traffic rises ahead of the Easter holidays and traffic delays have been further widened by damage to a Eurotunnel train on Monday. Drivers faced another day of traffic chaos on Thursday as trucks lined up for hours to reach Dover Harbor and the Eurotunnel terminal, and Kent residents experienced disruption and diversion. A 23-mile section of the M20 from junction eight near Maidstone to junction 11 at Westenhanger closed on Thursday for all non-freight traffic as part of Operation Brock’s traffic management system. It was estimated that more than 2,000 trucks were stuck in the queue. “One member reported that they joined the queue at 8 p.m. last night and this morning just before 9 p.m. “It was still 30 miles from Dover,” Buchanan said, adding that truck drivers were forced to wait in their cabins without access to toilets or places to buy food and drink. “We receive a lot of comments from drivers complaining about the lack of facilities. “They are basically advised to take their legal rest before going to Kent,” he said. Days of traffic chaos also affected Kent residents and businesses, said Toby Howe, chief tactician at the Kent Resilience Forum, a collaborative organization. “Basically we have more trucks coming to the county than can come from the other end,” Howe said. “This issue is not going to go away and it’s always Kent and its people who have to pay the price if there are problems at the English Channel.” Trevor Bartlett, the head of Dover Regional Council, said in an open letter that the port would remain under heavy pressure until Easter and would not hesitate to “declare a major incident” if Dover were again crushed by port traffic. , because of local fears that this could hamper emergency services.
