Westminstenders: a feature of the system not a bug

[RedToothBrush]

Tests on the new queuing system in Kent have revealed that lengthy tail backs are a feature not a bug.

We should get used to them because thats normal not the system malfunctioning, but the planned system working as designed.

Today we have found out that there's no money left. The economy is fucked. And tomorrow we will probably all be in T3 with the Isles of Wight, the tip of Cornwall and inner Westminster the only places left in T1.

Christmas has apparently been 'saved' though. Well if you are dumb and lacking in functional brain cells its 'saved'. Trade for Christmas is already thoroughly goosed and indoor family gatherings may come with a extra side of covid. The BBC have done an epic job of 'doommongering project fear' style graphics on this wonderful subject.

Tis the season to be jolly. Jolly fucked.

But if the shipper wants his goods in the UK, that's where they're going, so he'll pay.

You have the same problem with subcontract drivers going into London. They can lose the whole day on a low mileage job. Pay for what the individual job actually involves, rather than for the mileage and you find drivers for it, or you use employed drivers.

Alternatively, if it all becomes too much of a faff, there's no profit in it, and producers just sell their goods elsewhere, we can maybe look forwards to Dover having the level of traffic it had in 1992.

@FishesaPlenty

But if the shipper wants his goods in the UK, that's where they're going, so he'll pay.

You have the same problem with subcontract drivers going into London. They can lose the whole day on a low mileage job. Pay for what the individual job actually involves, rather than for the mileage and you find drivers for it, or you use employed drivers.

Alternatively, if it all becomes too much of a faff, there's no profit in it, and producers just sell their goods elsewhere, we can maybe look forwards to Dover having the level of traffic it had in 1992.

You'll have to remind me where that was in the Leave campaigns promises.

The shipper will pay if there is flexibility in the contract
but the UK has cheap food because the supermarkets drive VERY hard bargains.
Contracts are set long into the future
so either

• UK food prices will have to rise a lot to cover the cost
• UK food supplies will drop because the transit stages will not cover the cost

neither of which were written on the side of the bus

I've delved into customs Twitter, and haulier Twitter, and it doesn't look good, does it.

Ireland, like France, are getting their arses in gear.
www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/businesses-can-show-dunkirk-spirit-by-taking-new-direct-ferry-to-france-1.4420716

I can see a bigger market for unaccompanied trailers again as it will simplify Tacho rules and licence rules
but unaccompanied reefers can be a PITA to check

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry

www.ft.com/content/62bf13df-195c-4f0b-a1d5-db1c80ffffd1

Farmers shocked they are loosing their subsidies

I don't know about supermarkets specifically but on the whole there's an expectation of increased costs and renegotiated contracts. We've had enough time to think about it, and to not to enter into any commitments that extend beyond deadlines without allowing for cost increases.

So from sunny uplands and "they need us more than we need them" we've gone to "there's an expectation of increased costs " and "a bit of extra cost will have to passed on to customers"

That's if we can even get the goods here at all

I am trying to understand these border/haulage problems, which as I understand were entirely predicted but dismissed because people wanted reality to be different (that sounds familiar)

Are they thought to be short term teething problems (day/weeks/months?) or inevitable & ongoing until better deal agreed (which could be years?)

squid
They were entirely predicted - both on these threads and elsewhere from spring 2016 onwards

Teething : yes and no. Clearance takes time, it just does. It also takes space. Neither of which the UK has

Ongoing : again yes and no - in that the systems will bed down and speed up but NEVER to what they were in the single market.

but the UK has cheap food because the supermarkets drive VERY hard bargains.

This is what annoys me when Brexiters trumpet how wonderful a USA trade deal will be because we can have cheap food. Our food is already cheap by comparison with e.g. France. What we need to tackle is poorly paid precarious work, and ridiculous housing costs. So that the wages coming in for a family enable them to pay for decent food.

And no, we didn't need to leave the EU to do either of those things.

Happy update.
My tiny hedgehog is still alive.
She (we have checked) is stabilising and eating and pooing a lot and getting less wobbly.
I've buried enough to know to be sanguine
but I think this one might make it ...

Yes I'm wondering that too squid4.

But if the shipper wants his goods in the UK, that's where they're going, so he'll pay.

I think that's true up to a point. But in some industries there will come a point where the cost of shipping plus other Brexit related costs will make it not worth the bother. In my industry the expectation is that some fine chemicals for eg just won't be sold in the U.K. (by some market participants, or perhaps at all).

Fishes is obviously more in touch with what's happening in the shipping industry generally, but in my industry freight costs ex London have risen alarmingly this year. This isn't Brexit related (as far as I know), but I am sure that Brexit isn't going to help matters at all as we move into the new year.

Same news as LQ ?

www.dfds.com/en/about/media/news/dfds-opens-direct-ireland-france-ferry-route

On 2 January 2021, DFDS will commence sailings on a new freight ferry route between Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland and Dunkerque in Northern France.

(contd)

DGR
Yup.
Ireland is lining up its ducks

@ListeningQuietly

DGR Yup. Ireland is lining up its ducks

It's hard not to hear a whispered "fuck you Boris" in there.

LQ - thanks for the update..... a ray of sunshine on an otherwise shit day.

LQ According to my DD, who has travelled extensively in the EU, it is still possible to get stamps. She used to ask for them - and I've seen the proof in her passport (bet she was popular!!)

But unlikely that the vast majority of people have them.

(Wish I'd known it was still possible, just for fun. Still, from next year.... )

It's hard not to hear a whispered "fuck you Boris" in there.
I refer you to certain posts from a Dublin pub in November 2018 ....
not whispered

Does Tiny Hedgehog have a name?

(I will admit following hedgehog accounts on Instagram) 👀

Very happy to hear about Tiny Hedgehog. Fuck you 2020!

Tatiana / MrsL
DD has named her Sonic
The cats are well hacked off that they cannot lift the wire off her box either !

But she is very mellow at being handled till we are sure that we can get her to 600g before the frost
and as a total fallback, my polytunnel propagator may get repurposed

Enjoy the small things,
it makes the big things easier to cope with

squid
its so ferkin hard at the moment.
DH has earned zilch since March and we are now looking at next April before his earnings return

the gyms re open soon
but the intellectual satisfaction of making the world better is on hold
(for him not me, I just do compliance)

and in the midst of it all the Politicians are actively trying to make it worse not better

at least I voted for Biden

And Fuck you Priti