Open EC borders are saving days
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• Many hauliers say they are saving a significant amount of time on journeys to Europe following the disappearance of EC border controls.Some hauliers say they are regularly cutting more than half a day off round trips across the Channel.
"On some trips we are saving from a day to a day and a half," says Mark Payne, managing director of Armoric Freight International in Plymouth.
'Whereas before we were having to wait to go through customs, we can now pass through more quickly and get earlier boats."
David Burton, managing director of DS&C Burton in Dereham, Norfolk, says: "We had instances of being held up for eight hours at customs; now we are through in 30 minutes. This system is much better."
But Peter Cairns, transport manager at Interfreight Transport of Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, says he has not noticed a significant time-saving difference. "I don't think things have been made as easy as you expect them to be."