Category: Road

South Korea factory fire underline danger of lithium batteries

In June, a catastrophic factory fire erupted after several lithium batteries exploded, killing 22 people in South Korea. As a leading producer of lithium batteries, South Korea’s Aricell factory housed an estimated 35,000 battery cells, used in products ranging from electric vehicles to laptops... Read more

Europe may experience its own near-shoring boom

As planes descend into Monterrey airport, an expanse of warehouses and manufacturing complexes stretches out for miles, exemplifying the near-shoring boom that has swept through Mexico in recent years, as Asian companies and their supply chains move closer to the United States. Drivers of Mexi... Read more

Metro road freight division continues expansion

Metro’s mission to develop infrastructure, systems and services to drive the effectiveness and cost efficiency of our European transport solutions is gathering pace. Just three months ago, our European Road Director, Richard Gibbs, said, “Metro has expanded its European road freight platfo... Read more

Importers concerned at cost of Brexit trade checks

Delayed five times by the UK government, post-Brexit physical border checks of animal products, plants and plant products through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel were finally implemented on the 30th April 2024. However, importers of affected products express concern about additional costs. Th... Read more

Metro continues French expansion

Expanding Metro’s road freight coverage and service offerings in France adds further capability to the company's strong network and enhances closeness with customers in the region. For retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributers and all types of shipper, our French import and export ... Read more

Driving road freight excellence

Into his second year Metro’s European Director, Richard Gibbs, updates us on his mission to develop the infrastructure, systems and services that will provide the best European transport solutions, for effectiveness and cost efficiency.  “Metro has expanded its European road freight platfor... Read more

Supply chain; a year in review

2023 was supposed to be the year that global supply chains bounced back from pandemic lockdowns and factory shutdowns, trade wars, tariffs and war in Europe, but now container shipping is disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea and restrictions on the Panama Canal. The COVID pandemic and its after... Read more

HMRC export deadline and rogue hauliers

With the deadline fast approaching for export declarations moving to the Customs Declaration Service HMRC are highlighting a worrying trend at the border, with misuse of valid documents leaving innocent exporters potentially non-compliant and exposed to penalties.  In their latest Customs... Read more

EU road toll increases start in Germany

Increases in HGV road toll charges in Germany, which includes an additional CO2 emissions tax of €200 per tonne began on the 1st December 2023 and for vehicle combinations with a gross vehicle weight of up to 40 tons, prices will increase by almost 86% – giving 35.4 cents per kilometre. Th... Read more

Road freight review; August 2023

Despite the European road freight sector largely showing a picture of weak recovery, amidst an uncertain, challenging and complex market environment, our European operations are expanding and the team continues to grow. The market moderation seen in the second half of 2022 has spilled over int... Read more

Longer lorries OK from next week

From next Wednesday the 31st May operational road transport equipment can include longer semi-trailer (LST) combinations up to 18.55 meters in length, which is an increase of 2.05 meters on today’s standard size.   The government has calculated that the additional volume created by the extr... Read more

New EU emissions trading system for road transport

EU Member States formally adopted the new emissions trading system in road transport (ETS II) last month, but the road freight industry insist 2027 is “too soon to launch”, given the absence of refueling and EV charging infrastructure. The Council of the EU in April, adopted a new emission... Read more