Hauliers in Cambridgeshire fear they could face a heavy knock-on effect after workers at the UK’s largest container port walked out on strike.

An extra backlog of deliveries and thousands of pounds lost are some of the concerns raised as workers at the Port of Felixstowe took eight-day strike action over a pay dispute.

The strike was called on August 21 when the Unite union failed to agree on an improvement to the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company’s offer of a seven per cent pay rise.

Buffaload Logistics in Ellington near Huntingdon uses Felixstowe to run around 1,000 deliveries a week, but that number is thought to be cut.

“We have got a backlog so it could take months to sort that out and we have hardly recovered from Covid,” Ross Taylor, CEO at Buffaload Logistics, said.

“No one knows (the true impact of strike on supply), but it could be between a 20-30pc reduction in our usual deliveries.”

Mr Taylor feels that there was already a shortage in the supply chain, with customers running low on stock that is usually transferred from Felixstowe.

%image(14684196, type="article-full", alt="Ross Taylor, CEO at Buffaload Logistics, has labelled the strike action at the Port of Felixstowe as "a nightmare".")

The port strike is the latest hurdle Mr Taylor has had to face following the nationwide lorry driver shortage last year.

“It’s a nightmare,” he said.

“I think there will be a lot of victims in this, such as the smaller hauliers who will go out of business because if you’re not strong now, you will fall over.

“We have been through everything you could thing of over the last two years, but I’m 100pc confident we will be alright.”

Knowles Transport, which has depots in Wisbech and Wimblington, is another haulage firm that uses Felixstowe as a key location for its deliveries.

The haulier also uses the port of London Gateway, which has acted as a suitable alternative during the strike.

%image(14684198, type="article-full", alt="Alex Knowles, managing director at Knowles Transport, says the transport sector still needs time to return to normality.")

“For a long time, we’ve seen demand outstripping supply and I think the transport sector is still working itself out,” Alex Knowles, managing director of Knowles Transport, said.

“It’s sending prices higher and it’s about finding the equilibrium of supply and demand.”

Mr Knowles, who said the company is “getting stronger all the time” during Covid and Brexit issues last year, believes no losses will be made during the Felixstowe strike.

But had it not been for London Gateway, the impact of the walk-out could be greater.

“There are other avenues into the UK and other ports to use so I don’t think it will cause us as much disruption as people may think,” said Mr Knowles.

“If it was not for London Gateway, the strike might have had more of an impact.”

On the other hand, Turners of Soham, one of the largest hauliers in the country, is facing a different impact.

Managing director Paul Day forecasted that the strike could cost the firm, which moves around 500 containers from the port a day, more than £1m.

%image(14684199, type="article-full", alt="Paul Day, managing director at Turners of Soham, forecasted that the strike could cost the firm, which moves around 500 containers from the port a day, more than £1m.")

Mr Day told ITV that he aimed to cut losses to “around £200,000 a day” and feels the effect on smaller companies may be too much.

"It's a huge amount of money not just for Turners but for multiple other companies, many smaller companies who are just not able to sustain that amount of loss," he said.

"I think we will be able to sustain it and then carry on again as normal once the port gets back to running."

The industrial action at Felixstowe, where around 1,900 members of the Unite union walked out, is the first of its kind since 1989.

%image(14684203, type="article-full", alt="Some of Cambridgeshire hauliers have been affected in some way due to the strike action taken at the Port of Felixstowe.")

Paul Davey, spokesman for the port, said that the seven per cent pay rise plus a £500 one-off payment was respectable, despite Unite saying it was “significantly below” the rate of inflation.

Mr Taylor hopes that the impact of the strike will only be short-term.

“We have to adapt to accommodate what hits you and that’s what good transport companies do,” he said.

Mr Knowles added that no impact has yet been felt on Knowles Transport, despite not knowing when normality will resume.

He added: “I don’t foresee that compared to issues last year, this strike is anywhere near those issues.”