U.K. EU TOURING RULES EASED

The expensive and needlessly bureaucratic touring situation between the U.K. and Europe has eased slightly thanks to a temporary agreement that will see trucking operators service the two regions more freely.

According to Access All Areas, industry trade body LIVE has successfully lobbied the British government to introduce a rule that will allow EU-based haulers to temporarily switch to an operator license that would enable them to conduct U.K. tours this summer.

Many of the big trucking operators with bases in the EU, therefore, will not be bound by the restrictive rule that prevents registered tour vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons from making more than three stops in the U.K. before having to return, an onerous restriction dictated by Brexit.

While temporary for now, the rule is expected to be passed into law in the fall. LIVE touring group chair Craig Stanley said that without it, “tens of millions of Euros of business was under threat” and 110 European tours were at risk.