We are not testing hauliers from France?

[namechange63524]

I don't know why, but I just assumed that we would be testing hauliers. Why does he always delay, delay, delay - FFS.

Would have to be LFTs.
More plastic
More costs
More delays

Why pick on France -- what about the 200k /year hauliers from Ireland and I dunno how many from Netherlands.

Most of them stay in their cabs all the time whilst travelling

Perhaps they want the goods to hit the shelves fast and didn't have the logistics capacity. The DfT have carried out around a quarter of a million tests for hauliers on this side who need to show a negative before entering France.
As someone said, it's fairly low-rise in the sense that they stay with their cab and rarely interact with the community. In a similar way to allowing pilots to fly in and out without waiting for tests.

*Low risk nor low rise

When they were tested before Christmas there were 24 cases in 10,000 drivers. I would say the risk is very low, especially as they tend to stay in their cabs as pp's have said.

@poppycat10

When they were tested before Christmas there were 24 cases in 10,000 drivers. I would say the risk is very low, especially as they tend to stay in their cabs as pp's have said.

That's more comforting.

But don't drivers have to be tested before they cross to France ? Ridiculous if it doesn't work both ways.
I thought they started all around early January. The point is that the SA variant is around in large numbers in France.

To the poster saying they should be tested because the French expect a test. Think about queues of trucks for the test every day prior to entering France. That's a delay in the logistics chain. You either want your fresh produce in supermarkets before it goes bad, or not!
It's low risk.

They did start doing this in early Jan after haulage was stopped due to the Kent variant. There were even quarantine hotels for any positive cases. They must have quietly phased it out...
It is required now for the opposite reasons - France is very high risk and even Germany is considering closing its border with France apparently (DMail, so questionable).
There is a lot of SA variant on the continent, which AZ is not very effective against, so we really don't want that variant becoming widespread here.

They are tested going back to calais at the request of the French since Dec. Continuing not phased out.

Drivers arriving at ports and tunnels in France regularly asked for proof of recent neg test. Not sure an extra test in Dover will add much other than cost, fuss, queues and delays.

They are also lower risk as little contact with people on their rounds and are on strict timescales to get backhauls and return.

This is from gov.uk (my bolding)

"All travellers from the UK, including children aged 11 and above, will need to present a negative PCR COVID-19 test result, carried out less than 72 hours before departure. As of 24 March, HGV or van drivers arriving in France from the UK are no longer required to provide a negative COVID-19 test to enter France The latest information for HGV or van drivers is available here. You should not use the NHS testing service to get a test in order to facilitate your travel to another country. You should arrange to take a private test. A list of private providers of coronavirus testing is available here.
www.gov.uk/foreign.../france/entry-requirements"