What is Brexit and how will it affect the transport sector?

The decision has already been made, and although implementing it will take time, we decided to take a deeper look at the Brexit issue in order to offer simple answers and explanations to the questions on everyone’s mind, especially in relation to the transport sector.

The history of Brexit: a story of love and hate between Europe and the United Kingdom

The politics of recent history have taught us that the relationship between the United Kingdom and European institutions have always been affected by ups and downs and a difference of opinions.

The UK’s demand that it plays a special role in the European Union is nothing new. In fact, ever since the European Economic Community was established in 1958 the UK has always tended to discredit Community intuitions while striving to design a Europe tailored to their needs.

This institutional ambiguity led to a vote in which the British people said “yes”, with 51.9% of the voting population in favor, to breaking institutional ties with the European Union.

But what does Brexit mean?

The term Brexit merges two words, ‘British’ and ‘exit’, and is used to define the United Kingdom’s leaving the European Union, a two-year process that officially began on March 29, 2017.

How will Brexit impact the transport sector?

So far we can only speculate, with doubts and fears mainly about the economic impact and how much the break will cost companies. But could it be that changes are already being detected?

Ángel Castillo, sales manager at Grupo Caliche, a company based in Murcia with a large volume of traffic to the United Kingdom, confirms our hypothesis. “The announcement of Brexit has not affected the volume of cargo that we are taking to the UK, we’re even making more trips than last year”. However, he adds that “our customers who export or import into the English market have renegotiated their rates, since they are trying to pass on the imbalances of the currency exchange to the carrier”.

The opinions of other associates who often work with the United Kingdom are along the same lines. Everyone agrees that it is still early to see Brexit affecting their work. The workflows remain the same and everything suggests that no changes are imminent.

 Have there been changes in the flow of goods on the Wtransnet Freight Exchange?

When we analyze Brexit from the point of view of loads and trucks available to or from the British Isles it seems like nothing has changed. The flow of goods to the United Kingdom from the rest of Europe has remained steady, following the seasonal fluctuations that affect the sector, with their respective peaks from 2015 to this past May.

The process has only just begun, but the elections over the coming months will shed light on the situation and provide information that is currently unavailable.