Short-sea container, unaccompanied trailer services and the use of quieter regional ports have enjoyed something of a renaissance since Brexit, as more complex border controls have added to congestion and delays at the busiest Channel ports.

DFDS’s Sheerness to Calais service has now moved more than 50,000 trailers since it was first launched in July 2021, an increase of 65% in daily unit volumes, while London Medway processed almost 4,000 unaccompanied trailers in a single month.

Unaccompanied freight, which sees trailers and containers shipped into regional ports without a driver, is seen as a major way of overcoming challenges with customs delays, and driver shortages.

DFDS and P&O are the main RoRo operators out of Dover to primary ports like Calais and Dunkerque, but there are hundreds of alternative RoRo services and sailings every week, that serve alternative ports like Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, London, Humberside, Liverpool, Gothenburg, Esbjerg, Santander and Porto.

Eurotunnel has been adding new rail services to meet growing demand for the unaccompanied transport of trailers and Brittany Ferries has confirmed that the amount of unaccompanied freight it is transporting on its routes between the UK and France/Spain is much higher than in previous years, with its Galicia service, operating between Santander in Spain and Portsmouth and around 40% of the freight carried has been unaccompanied trailers.

There is a good case for moving non-perishable cargo that is not on a strict deadline via unaccompanied services, because they are more reliable than accompanied freight, which are open to multiple points of failure.

Short sea unaccompanied container and trailer services offer literally hundreds of port pair, service and rate options, which allows the smart supply chain manager to flex service levels, transit time and rates for optimum services at the lowest economic rate.

For the right product and supply chain situations, short sea container shipping and unaccompanied trailers can be a smart, efficient and cost efficient alternative to standard overland services with Northern and Southern Europe. 

Many of the biggest shippers and manufacturers are established users of short sea services because they like the additional opportunities it provides over traditional road transport such as access to the rail network and the option of using the container as extended storage.

Short sea can be half the cost of road, but may be triple the transit. If you would like to explore the potential of short-sea container, unaccompanied trailer services and the benefits of quieter regional ports, EMAIL Matt Paxton-Rhodes to begin a conversation.

Just a few month’s into his new role and Metro’s Head of European Services, Matt Paxton-Rhodes say’s that instead of future-gazing, his focus is on the resilience of current operations, expanding the trusted partner network and finalising the service-model template, ready to transfer into new markets.

The market softening experienced in the second half of 2022 is going to extend into 2023, with the European road freight market expected to expand well below current inflation levels, as slowing economic growth in the EU weakens demand for road freight services in, through and out of Europe.

The outlook for the European road freight market will depend on the outcome of various unpredictable factors, including inflation, consumer demand, driver shortages and fuel costs.

Looking across Europe, we are anticipating a considerable variance in performance, with Turkey and Eastern Europe markets likely to perform better than Western European countries, like Germany, Italy and the UK, that are likely to be some of the slowest-growing road freight markets in 2023.

Despite the slowdown UK road haulage capacity is still stretched, by driver shortages and more directly by European truckers reluctance to cross into the UK, without the guarantee of return loads and no border delays.

Metro’s partner network resolves these issues, by providing access to capacity, drivers and specialised equipment, like mega-trailers, that can supercharge supply chain effectiveness.

By blending partner capacity, specialised equipment and operational excellence, Metro develop resilient road freight solutions for the most complex supply chain, like serving a manufacturer’s plants in the UK, Germany and Turkey, with rigid timescales and service levels.

In supporting this client’s manufacturing model. three to four trailers operate daily between each plant, shuttling components and ‘knocked down' shipments with defined delivery deadlines, using GPS tracked trucks to provide full transparency on transit schedules throughout Europe.

Vehicles can be single, double, or even treble-manned, depending on the route and urgency of the load, to take the “Just in time” concept to the optimum level.

Commenting on his experience with Metro, Matt said. “We have the right partners in place, across Europe and our service template is proven, which means we can swiftly roll out pan-European road freight solutions for the most demanding needs, between any location and country.”

“We are seeing more retail manufacturing near-shoring to Turkey and the Iberian peninsula, which are two of our strongest markets and we are very excited by the opportunities that our group's new ‘Ellerman City Liners’ short-sea service will provide throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.”

“Intermodal solutions are incredibly cost-effective and while they may have longer transit times, they are the perfect choice for those that can flex their supply chains, industrial and other less time-sensitive verticals.”

To learn more about our European capability, including our Turkish services, road freight template, or intermodal solutions EMAIL Matt now.