Port of Holyhead closure: RHA response to relaxation of driver hours

Late on Friday, we were contacted by members in Northern Ireland who were impacted due to the closure of the port of Holyhead in Anglesey. 

The combination of extra journey time and the time spent in queues has proven to be detrimental to operations. Over the weekend, drivers who sat in queues for hours were running out of hours, having to leave queues to take their rest and trailers which were due to be back at base and filled up for the next journey were displaced.

The RHA worked with Transport Scotland and DfT to secure a temporary relaxation of drivers’ hours for drivers of vehicles impacted by this port closure which has caused long queues, delays and disruption at a number of ports across the country.

RHA Policy Director for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Martin Reid said:

“After a lot of work over the weekend and some great support from out of hours staff at Transport Scotland and DfT, we were able to secure a temporary relaxation of certain parts of driver’s hours on behalf of our sector. 

“This relaxation will help to support the industry during this period of upheaval at our busiest time and allow companies to reposition vehicles back to where they need them to be.” 

Martin also told BBC Radio Wales that our sector and many businesses that rely on it are feeling the impact of the Holyhead port closure.

"This is the busiest time of year and the journey across the Irish Sea is a key freight route. The impact of this is being felt across the wider industry. Various vehicles that should be back at depots have been displaced across the UK.”

We will updated further as more information is made available. 

Notes: 

The relaxation of driver’s hours commenced just after midnight on Sunday and will run for five days until 23.59 on Friday 20 December.

You can read the official notice on drivers’ hours HERE. 

All enquiries regarding interpretation of these temporary drivers hours arrangements should be made to the DfT using the following contact details:

During office hours (9am to 5pm), email: [email protected]

Out of hours, phone the DfT Duty Office on 020 7944 5999