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Drop trailers surge in Sheerness

[ May 4, 2022   //   ]

Peel Ports’ London Medway had its busiest ever month for unaccompanied freight between the UK and France in April, thanks to the new DFDS ro ro service to and from Calais. The service carried 3,981 trailers.

The route was first introduced in June 2021 to expand DFDS’ existing network of services between the UK and Europe and came in response to the growing demand for unaccompanied freight services from cargo owners, hauliers and shipping lines.

The route is now operated by the M/V Botnia Seaways.

Director of Peel’s south east ports cluster, Richard Goffin, said: “These record-breaking achievements are a true testament to the increasing capabilities and efficiencies of our operations at London Medway, as well as our outstanding team without which this wouldn’t have been possible.

“We have invested heavily into our port estate recently, improving resiliency and capacity, providing a more attractive UK entry point over other southern ports.

“Our dedicated ro ro facilities, location and accessibility provide significant benefits for our customers, including DFDS.

Unaccompanied freight is seen by some in the industry as a major way of overcoming challenges with customs delays, driver shortages and storage.

DFDS’s freight sales director, Wayne Bullen said that the service  had now started to accept a limited number of driver-accompanied vehicles with up to 12 drivers per sailing.

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