The owners of Tilbury 2 have reported a 20% increase in unaccompanied freight volumes between Tilbury and Zeebrugge in December.
As passengers are largely disappearing from ferries across the North Sea, The Channel and the Irish Sea, the dynamics of the logistics industry have changed.
Without the cross-subsidy from passengers to freight units, the true end-to-end cost of freight is becoming apparent.
We may see new ferry and container shipping routes springing up, combined with the greater use of rail for inward distribution. Unaccompanied freight is the answer to a number of current questions in the freight industry.