Polish truckers are in talks with Ukrainian officials over unregulated border crossings that they say have affected their business since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Polish truckers say that unregulated activity by rapidly growing Ukrainian transport companies is ruining their business.
I mean, you can postpone it, but at some point I would expect Ukraine to probably be in the EU, at which point there’s going to be competition.
And as things stand, with shipping by water blockaded by Russia, there’s increased demand for transport over land, so this is probably about as gentle as a transition as one could expect for overland transport companies.
EDIT: I also gotta say that if truckers are blocked in a huge line at the border for days and can’t get to a restroom, that kinda forces them to do their business by the side of the road. I remember a British trucker talking about the issue on Reddit back during the Brexit Calais-Dover queues, and there at least IIRC the UK managed to put together a sort of ad-hoc truck park where truckers could get off the road without losing their place in line while officials sorted things out.
Extra 800 troops sent to help clear Kent lorry backlog
Polish lorry drivers, with a makeshift Christmas tree fashioned out of empty Heineken cans, share Christmas Day food and drinks at a truck stop near Folkestone.
Army personnel will be testing drivers for coronavirus and distributing food and water, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Southeastern railway and Network Rail arranged for food to be delivered to drivers stuck in Operation Brock on the M20.
Seven trains carrying crates of food for the hauliers have left London in the past 48 hours, with the Salvation Army distributing the items.
HM Coastguard said its teams in the Dover area had so far delivered 3,000 hot meals, 600 pizzas, 2,985 packed lunches and 17 pallets of water to those waiting.
The Government said catering vans would provide hot food and drinks to hauliers stranded at Manston, with Kent County Council and volunteer groups providing refreshments to those stuck on the M20.
There are more than 250 toilets at Manston, with a further 32 portable toilets added to existing facilities on the M20.
It’d also probably be preferable not to pull Ukrainian troops off to have to deal with this if possible. There is a war on, after all.
I don’t know if a giant rectangular block of trucks would be a Russian missile target or not, though; shipping by water has been. It’d be preferable if they could get the trucks across the border into Poland and then park them somewhere there if need be. Then have the Polish government handle the logistics of how to get them food and water and to rest facilities, and the truckers, Polish government, and Ukrainian government can sort out the dispute.
EDIT2: it also sounds like it’s not just Ukrainian truckers stuck in all this, but truckers from other countries too. Maybe Frontex could haul in food and toilets, since I guess that there are probably trucks from across the EU also stuck in the queue.
“Unregulated” is the key word here. Competition is good, competition where one party has a lower burden of compliance is not.
Economies are interlinked to a large degree nowadays either way. Coopting Ukraine will resume trade and business that was already being done, at higher standards. Both the EU and the new member country benefit after joining.
Conversely, the hit taken by Ukraine due to the war is being felt by most of its trade partners and everybody is looking forward to going back to pre-war levels.
I mean, you can postpone it, but at some point I would expect Ukraine to probably be in the EU, at which point there’s going to be competition.
And as things stand, with shipping by water blockaded by Russia, there’s increased demand for transport over land, so this is probably about as gentle as a transition as one could expect for overland transport companies.
EDIT: I also gotta say that if truckers are blocked in a huge line at the border for days and can’t get to a restroom, that kinda forces them to do their business by the side of the road. I remember a British trucker talking about the issue on Reddit back during the Brexit Calais-Dover queues, and there at least IIRC the UK managed to put together a sort of ad-hoc truck park where truckers could get off the road without losing their place in line while officials sorted things out.
https://www.itv.com/news/2020-12-25/extra-800-troops-sent-to-help-clear-kent-lorry-backlog
It’d also probably be preferable not to pull Ukrainian troops off to have to deal with this if possible. There is a war on, after all.
I don’t know if a giant rectangular block of trucks would be a Russian missile target or not, though; shipping by water has been. It’d be preferable if they could get the trucks across the border into Poland and then park them somewhere there if need be. Then have the Polish government handle the logistics of how to get them food and water and to rest facilities, and the truckers, Polish government, and Ukrainian government can sort out the dispute.
EDIT2: it also sounds like it’s not just Ukrainian truckers stuck in all this, but truckers from other countries too. Maybe Frontex could haul in food and toilets, since I guess that there are probably trucks from across the EU also stuck in the queue.
I’d say it’s the other way around. It’s one of the reasons why Ukraine won’t become part of the EU.
“Unregulated” is the key word here. Competition is good, competition where one party has a lower burden of compliance is not.
Economies are interlinked to a large degree nowadays either way. Coopting Ukraine will resume trade and business that was already being done, at higher standards. Both the EU and the new member country benefit after joining.
Conversely, the hit taken by Ukraine due to the war is being felt by most of its trade partners and everybody is looking forward to going back to pre-war levels.