THE EFFECT OF CABOTAGE RULES Ca botage rules are conspiring
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to make it harder for Burbank to cover its costs both ways, but the firm perseveres. The rules allow only three journeys point-topoint, and vehicles must enter another country bearing an international load.
"There aren't loads going from the UK to Rungis so we have to take whatever load will be on the way. I can get loads from here to Paris for £500, but I would prefer to take a load from Bradford to London for £400, then cross to Dunkirk and reload there for Paris, but that's now illegal," says Newman. "I have to enter France with a load, despite the fact I have to drive to Paris anyway."
The company tries to take a load from Yorkshire to the southern ports, takes a fresh load to Dunkirk or Antwerp and then loads for Paris. "It gets us to Rungis full and in time to collect our own load to bring home. And that's the third journey."
Burbank drivers can cover the distance between Rungis and Bradford, using one of their 800 tunnel crossings a year, with 30 minutes to spare on their drivers' hours. "We keep some ddvers close to home in case of delays in traffic and require someone to go out and pick up a vehicle an hour from here," says Kershaw.