British drivers trapped in Gulf
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• At least three British drivers are still stranded in Iraq as the Gulf crisis intensifies. Tony Lynch and Dennis McGrath, who both work for Purfleetbased haulier Alan Brookes, and Geoff Guy, who works for Colchester-based haulier Ian Snodgrass, are believed to be in a queue of trucks waiting to pass through Zhakko on the Iraqi border with Turkey. Most of the vehicles waiting to get out are Turkish. Lynch and McGrath had unloaded their cargoes in Baghdad and are trying to return home.
Snodgrass and Brookes have both been in frequent contact with the Foreign Office, but as yet have no news of their men.
Uwe Ploog, managing director of Astrans the specialist Middle East freight forwarder, says that all his sub-contractors who were in Kuwait or Iraq when the invasion took place have successfully got through to Doha in Qatar and unloaded their cargoes.
Returning drivers have reported seeing no troop activity in Saudia Arabia. The route they take, along the tap line at the top of Saudi into Jordan, runs to the south of the Iraqi border. However, Ploog is concerned about the drivers who are stuck in Iraq waiting to get their trucks out. "For us it is almost business as usual with customers both in Qatar and the UK relieved that we are sticking with them in this very tense situation," he says. "Airfreight rates have risen by 20% with fuel and insurance premiums rising. But the hostage situation and the three guys stuck at Zhakko is a terrible state of affairs. Thank God ours got through unscathed. Nobody knows what will happen next but if the Middle East does blow up, God help anyone down there."
Mike Walker, a Poole-based owner-driver working for Astrans, arrived at Habur, on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq, on the morning of the invasion. After a five-hour delay when the frontier was closed, Walker was allowed to pass through and continue his journey to Doha. Driving through Baghdad he saw many tanks and anti-aircraft guns moving up from the South.
At the Saudi/Jordanian border his passport was thrown back at him. He also claims to have been pushed around by customs officials, but on the Saudi side he was treated well. On 20 August he left again for Doha, this time via Syria and Jordan.
El West Midlands-based S Jones claims to be the only UK haulier running a transport firm in Saudi Arabia. Managing director David Hughes says the company, Transarabia, in which S Jones has a 50% stake, is still functioning normally.