ECMT Permits

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EURO DRIVING FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

My drivers were handed a document upon exiting Portsmouth ferry terminal last night advising that documents for driving in the EU are changing from the 29 March next year. As most know, this is the date that we are due to leave Europe and will therefore require new documentation if wishing to continue to operate in Europe. The leaflet advises visiting the government website at gov/euexitdriving. I also received an e-mail this morning from DVSA -

"We do not want or expect a no deal scenario. It is however the duty of a responsible Government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes including the unlikely event of no deal.
So you can prepare contingency plans for the unlikely event of a ‘no deal’, you can apply for an ECMT permit to continue operating in the EU after 29 March 2019.
Applying for permits
Applications for 2019 permits are open. You can apply any time before 11:59pm on Friday 21 December 2018.
Permits are not allocated on a first come first served basis, so you can apply at any time during the application period. The application period ends on 21 December 2018 and permits will be allocated in early 2019.
You’ll need to be registered on the online Vehicle Operator Licensing system to apply."

My business is already registered so I logged on an started my application. The first hurdle was that the vehicles operating abroad needed to be Euro VI !!! Mine are Euro V. I rang the number on the form only to be given another number - 0330 6781117.
I asked the very helpful lady if that prevented my removal company from applying. “Removal company”! I am now informed that removal companies do not require ECMT permits. There is a separate application to complete for removal companies whereby an initial request is sent costing £18.00 per vehicle and then they are issued on demand. Euro VI is not a requirement.

I was not aware that removal companies would be exempt and was not aware that general hauliers would require Euro VI to operate. I am assuming that all of the above will only be relevant should we have a NO DEAL Brexit. It’s still going to cost me money to apply now. Will this be refundable? Who knows. All I can say is that this is a complete mess and I have every sympathy for any haulier who may be forced out of business as a result.

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The Brits never to miss a trick or two will be applying for Removal permits, in my day it was Trailer Recovery [emoji23]

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Recovery is another one exempt at the mo helpfully.

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I thought we carfied on as normal for the two year transition period

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There might not be a transition period if there is No Deal. This is why the government and the DOT are making contingency plans.
I applied for the Removal Permits yesterday and was about to pay £54.00 for the privilege (whilst bemoaning the Brexiteers for wasting my money) but was advised that there was no deadline for applying for Removal Permits (unlike the ECMT permits) and that they could be applied for at any time as and when required. I feel sorry for UK hauliers who have to apply for these permits (unless they voted for Brexit!) as they could be wasting their money if there is a Deal or are not guaranteed getting any if we end up with No Deal.
There appear to be a lot of Brexiteers on these forums but I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone who is involved in European transport would vote for Brexit when it will have such a negative impact on their businesses. Apart for the obvious delays and driver shortages, will we still be able to claim back VAT (European equivalent) on fuel and toll charges when abroad? I doubt it. What about roaming charges using the phone? Still, it’ll all be ok as we will have back control!!

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I don’t know about VAT, however as we won’t be an EU country I don’t think we would be paying VAT on EU goods (fuel) so would still be claiming it back.

Roaming charges for mobile phones. I’ve been assured by Vodaphone that they won’t be making roaming charges after Brexit. After all, the same conditions will still apply. The satellite(s) will still be in space. It won’t cost them any more to beam signals up and down, whether it’s France to Germany or UK to Germany. This was true before the EU stopped them all from making roaming charges, but now that we all know better they wouldn’t get away with it. After all, the charges would have to apply to European hauliers working into the UK as well as the other way round.