I used to work in logistics and dealt with customs issues and transportation mainly through the ports of Dover and Calais. The pettiness of French custom officials used to cause us a lot of problems and excessive delays, and this was in normal times.
Are we saying that the French will facilitate the same speedy transit of goods that we currently rely on after a no deal exit?
Even a small initial delay has consequences as it starts to back up waiting traffic. Dover does not have huge parking areas, so this will quickly turn into queues on the A2 which will lengthen exponentially and turn the M2 into a truck park within a few days.
This isn’t speculation, it’s a situation that will confront us within the first week of a no deal exit.
I was in logistics at the time that “just in time” deliveries were being trialled, and today all industries rely on stuff coming in through the back door just as the last current stocks go out of the front door. Profit margins rely on a minimum amount of capital being tied up in back up stock sitting in large warehouses (which used to be the case). There is no going back from “just in time” delivery if companies wish to survive, so multi nationals may well shift more production to EU countries, and UK only companies will have no alternative but to pay for the increasing costs due to closed borders. They will then have to pass these costs on to the customer (us) or go bust.
I’ve just highlighted one aspect of the yellowhammer document. I’m not scaremongering, I’m talking from (often painful) experience.