U.K.’s Gateway to Europe Braces for 17-Mile Brexit Backup

Every day, as many as 10,000 trucks rumble through the Port of Dover, whose towering white cliffs face continental Europe across the narrowest stretch of the English Channel. Rigs loaded with French cheese, German car parts, and other European goods roll off ferries and onto British highways, while trucks hauling Scotch whisky and Welsh lamb bound for the Continent glide through passport checks in two minutes on average. Traffic through the facility amounts to almost a fifth of all the U.K.’s trade in goods, worth about £122 billion ($165 billion) annually.

Brexit threatens to clog this crucial artery. Port officials warn that increasing the average time it takes trucks to clear customs by as little as two minutes could lead to 17-mile (27-kilometer) traffic jams. And with talks in Brussels deadlocked and Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union fewer than 18 months away, the man who oversees the port says he doesn’t know whether to train more customs officers, look at land purchases to ease congestion, or just keep calm and carry on. “Once we understand what it is that has to be done, then we can come up with a better plan,” says Chief Executive Officer Tim Waggott. “At the moment, you tell me what I need to plan for.”