New to European Transport

Hi all,

We’re a fairly new company, and the plan has always been to get an operating centre, get a trailer with a driver and have 50% or so of our business going into Europe.

I was fairly confident with the process, having done a lot of work for Amazon using subbies, but with Brexit the process to me has become very murky,

My very naive and basic question is; what does a driver actually have to do these days to cross the border (does he have to report to an appointed customs office here in the UK, who appoints that office?)

I’ve seen another topic with what documentation is needed, but not actually what the driver has to do.

P.S - anyone know of any courses on Int Haulage to cover these basics?

Thanks

Dean

Quite simply it’s complicated, you need a customs agent & ideally an ACC one as then you won’t normally need to visit a UK customs facility unless specifically requested (depending on your goods)

PlotLogistics:
Hi all,

We’re a fairly new company, and the plan has always been to get an operating centre, get a trailer with a driver and have 50% or so of our business going into Europe.

I was fairly confident with the process, having done a lot of work for Amazon using subbies, but with Brexit the process to me has become very murky,

My very naive and basic question is; what does a driver actually have to do these days to cross the border (does he have to report to an appointed customs office here in the UK, who appoints that office?)

I’ve seen another topic with what documentation is needed, but not actually what the driver has to do.

P.S - anyone know of any courses on Int Haulage to cover these basics?

Thanks

Dean

Dunning-Kruger Effect?
You plan on having 50% of business running into the EU, but don`t know even the basics? How can you make a plan about what you have no knowledge of?
You may have ambitions and dreams but clearly, no credible plans at all.

If you have a look at the old times forum then see the Davies international thread, Buzzer will point you in right direction.

Franglais:

PlotLogistics:
Hi all,

We’re a fairly new company, and the plan has always been to get an operating centre, get a trailer with a driver and have 50% or so of our business going into Europe.

I was fairly confident with the process, having done a lot of work for Amazon using subbies, but with Brexit the process to me has become very murky,

My very naive and basic question is; what does a driver actually have to do these days to cross the border (does he have to report to an appointed customs office here in the UK, who appoints that office?)

I’ve seen another topic with what documentation is needed, but not actually what the driver has to do.

P.S - anyone know of any courses on Int Haulage to cover these basics?

Thanks

Dean

Dunning-Kruger Effect?
You plan on having 50% of business running into the EU, but don`t know even the basics? How can you make a plan about what you have no knowledge of?
You may have ambitions and dreams but clearly, no credible plans at all.

Well thank you for the constructive answer, we’ve got plenty of work that we can sub out to Europe, but we’re looking to get our licenses ourselves. Got to start somewhere…

Tarmaceater:
If you have a look at the old times forum then see the Davies international thread, Buzzer will point you in right direction.

Great thank you,

iguana:
Quite simply it’s complicated, you need a customs agent & ideally an ACC one as then you won’t normally need to visit a UK customs facility unless specifically requested (depending on your goods)

Ok thank you

i’ve still got french customers who don’t understand the fact that they need a customs agent to clear the goods
and i quote,
‘I don’t understand your mail. My colleague ******** ******* who works with you before says me that he never had these kind of questions in the past when he received the machines.
He says that you always deliver the machine in Atton without having this question.
Could you explain me what you want to say ?’

and that was today , we only asked for their EORI number and who their customs agent was for clearing the machines.

and they’re not alone , we’ve been onto another for for a month or so to make them understand what they need.

so ‘murky’ isn’t only a problem for drivers

tony

tonyj105:
i’ve still got french customers who don’t understand the fact that they need a customs agent to clear the goods
and i quote,
‘I don’t understand your mail. My colleague ******** ******* who works with you before says me that he never had these kind of questions in the past when he received the machines.
He says that you always deliver the machine in Atton without having this question.
Could you explain me what you want to say ?’

and that was today , we only asked for their EORI number and who their customs agent was for clearing the machines.

and they’re not alone , we’ve been onto another for for a month or so to make them understand what they need.

so ‘murky’ isn’t only a problem for drivers

tony

Don’t you have your own French agent?
Get one agent to clear all your machines. They will get used to your needs, and it’ll be far quicker than having different customers scratching around for different agents all dealing with your goods for the first time.

Some of our UK customers insist we use a particular customs agent for their goods, for delivering into Switzerland.
As a company we normally use one of two agents who know our preferences after we’ve been their customers for many years. When we see some of the other agents names on our job sheet, we know it’s going to be a long, slow process for the clearance :frowning:
It’s much the same into Germany now. We have worked with several of the big logistics companies for many years, they now also operate as customs agents for UK goods. They have probably been doing it for many years for imports and exports from none EU countries anyway, so knew what needed doing.
The first few weeks were a bit problematic, but now it’s usually a fairly smooth process.

Simon:
Some of our UK customers insist we use a particular customs agent for their goods, for delivering into Switzerland.
As a company we normally use one of two agents who know our preferences after we’ve been their customers for many years. When we see some of the other agents names on our job sheet, we know it’s going to be a long, slow process for the clearance :frowning:
It’s much the same into Germany now. We have worked with several of the big logistics companies for many years, they now also operate as customs agents for UK goods. They have probably been doing it for many years for imports and exports from none EU countries anyway, so knew what needed doing.
The first few weeks were a bit problematic, but now it’s usually a fairly smooth process.

Brexit paperwork is just another hurdle to pass isn’t it?
.
Olympic hurdles are about 10 or 20 per cent slower than races without hurdles…
.
.
Time is money…

Franglais:

tonyj105:
i’ve still got french customers who don’t understand the fact that they need a customs agent to clear the goods
and i quote,
‘I don’t understand your mail. My colleague ******** ******* who works with you before says me that he never had these kind of questions in the past when he received the machines.
He says that you always deliver the machine in Atton without having this question.
Could you explain me what you want to say ?’

and that was today , we only asked for their EORI number and who their customs agent was for clearing the machines.

and they’re not alone , we’ve been onto another for for a month or so to make them understand what they need.

so ‘murky’ isn’t only a problem for drivers

tony

Don’t you have your own French agent?
Get one agent to clear all your machines. They will get used to your needs, and it’ll be far quicker than having different customers scratching around for different agents all dealing with your goods for the first time.

i’d sooner leave it how it is to be honest, if we arrange the haulage we pay the haulier / forwarder we use to make the customs entry on our behalf, we tell them them where to clear from the info we get from the customer , puts the onus on the customer to pay the vat and get it cleared, we contact the clearance agent before we arrange anything , send them the invoice/packing list and certs the day before loading and the T1 when we get it, or if its smart entry the EXA . apart form early hiccups with EXA’s and T1’s due to using EXA for smart entry and T1 for manual clearance , seem s to be working fine , just need to get everything set up and checked before sending anything.
now if i was still in a transport company no question i’d have an agent set up in france to clear the loads.
tony

tonyj105:

Franglais:

tonyj105:
i’ve still got french customers who don’t understand the fact that they need a customs agent to clear the goods
and i quote,
‘I don’t understand your mail. My colleague ******** ******* who works with you before says me that he never had these kind of questions in the past when he received the machines.
He says that you always deliver the machine in Atton without having this question.
Could you explain me what you want to say ?’

and that was today , we only asked for their EORI number and who their customs agent was for clearing the machines.

and they’re not alone , we’ve been onto another for for a month or so to make them understand what they need.

so ‘murky’ isn’t only a problem for drivers

tony

Don’t you have your own French agent?
Get one agent to clear all your machines. They will get used to your needs, and it’ll be far quicker than having different customers scratching around for different agents all dealing with your goods for the first time.

i’d sooner leave it how it is to be honest, if we arrange the haulage we pay the haulier / forwarder we use to make the customs entry on our behalf, we tell them them where to clear from the info we get from the customer , puts the onus on the customer to pay the vat and get it cleared, we contact the clearance agent before we arrange anything , send them the invoice/packing list and certs the day before loading and the T1 when we get it, or if its smart entry the EXA . apart form early hiccups with EXA’s and T1’s due to using EXA for smart entry and T1 for manual clearance , seem s to be working fine , just need to get everything set up and checked before sending anything.
now if i was still in a transport company no question i’d have an agent set up in france to clear the loads.
tony

Just like pre 1990 - Isn’t progress grand…

Yes i was there for that as well, ferrymasters 1974 to 1979, and in the mid 80’s doing southern ireland out of corby, at least now i dont have to wait for the vat payment to come on the bus from dublin to dundalk.
Tony

I enjoyed the pre 1990 clearing customs at every border, drivers were more socially interactive back then and you could bump in to them anywhere around Europe.
Irun and the beach in France called Hendaye , the terrorist group ETA kicking up a fight between the Basque police.
Irun was a drivers paradise, cheap ■■■■ and booze, get your truck serviced, trailers washed, and even a leg over !
I would always use the free National road from Bayone to Biaritz then to the border but as time went by they brought in more weight limits, remember Mendy International transport, would see them everywhere .
Flower pots in the road and road narrowing to deter the transit trucks.

Tarmaceater:
I enjoyed the pre 1990 clearing customs at every border, drivers were more socially interactive back then and you could bump in to them anywhere around Europe.
Irun and the beach in France called Hendaye , the terrorist group ETA kicking up a fight between the Basque police.
Irun was a drivers paradise, cheap ■■■■ and booze, get your truck serviced, trailers washed, and even a leg over !
I would always use the free National road from Bayone to Biaritz then to the border but as time went by they brought in more weight limits, remember Mendy International transport, would see them everywhere .
Flower pots in the road and road narrowing to deter the transit trucks.

Dinner with the Mayor as well Tobes!

And the daughter of the Mayor . :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: