TNT is using alternative air and sea routes to bypass heavy congestion at the Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France and get shipments delivered on time.
Like many competitors, the Dutch company has been facing operational problems in the last few weeks due to the impact of the migrant crisis at Calais on Eurotunnel rail services as well as industrial action by French ferry workers on cross-channel sailings.
TNT spokesman Cyrille Gibot told CEP-Research today that service using Channel Tunnel-based overland traffic between the UK and rest of Europe “is fragile”. He said: “Our two-day economy service becomes three days when tunnel delays are significant.”
But he stressed that the company has alternatives in operation. “We fly our express material and use alternative (ferry) routes for road.” Next-day express deliveries, flown by air, are unaffected while the additional operational costs are “not material at group level”, he noted.
“Customers can still get their goods in destinations on time through TNT for we have a combination of air and road based services,” he emphasised.
CEP-Research reported yesterday that leading express operators have been affected to varying degrees by weeks of ‘Calais chaos’ and the repeated need to park hundreds of trucks on the M20 motorway from London to Dover and Folkestone.
DHL Express has re-routed some regional time-definite shipments that would normally be trucked to air transport in order to minimise delays, while a small number of day-definite shipments are being transported by ferry services.
UPS said its Standard package service between the UK and France was experiencing delays, while FedEx has taken contingency measures to minimise delays. Royal Mail has switched letter mail to air transport, while parcels units Parcelforce Worldwide and GLS have experienced delays to goods sent to and from Europe.
