After almost a week of protests from French farmers, concentrated in the south-west of the country, hauliers say that the situation is becoming untenable as roadblocks on major routes intensify.
Farmers have been blockading roads - including motorways and the main axis between France and Spain - since last Friday in a protest over the government policy of cattle culls due to outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why French farmers are protesting cattle culls✎
Motorways including the A63, A64, A65, A89 and A10 are blocked, while farmers have also been staging rolling roadblocks on the ringroads of cities including Bordeaux and Toulouse.
"The farmers' anger is legitimate, but heavy goods vehicles can no longer circulate normally. We're having to cancel deliveries", Victor Gonzalez, boss of a Bordeaux-based road transport company, told local paper Sud Ouest.
"The economic context is not favourable. The last few weeks of December usually enable us to offset losses. That won't be the case this time", he said, adding that he is anticipating problems with food and gift deliveries.
Alternative routes are seeing lorries diverted onto smaller roads or through town centres, creating more traffic problems. There have also been several accidents with heavy goods vehicles blocking small roads or, in one case, overturning in a ditch.
"It's complete nonsense”, said Frédéric Peixoto, a transporter from Saint-Vincent-de-Tyrosse who delivers foie gras and poultry all over France.
"The alternative routes proposed by the authorities were effective at first. But things quickly went wrong with the increasing number of roadblocks. You have to take small départemental roads that are not suited to lorries.
"There will be financial losses for sure, but what will we say to our customers who don't get their foie gras delivery at Christmas?"
The roadblocks are also affecting deliveries from Spain, with hundreds of Spanish lorries forced to halt at service stations on the A63.
The European Road Hauliers Association is calling on French authorities to set up secure alternative routes for lorries, with the union's secretary general adding: "Trucks are moving at snail's pace.
"The situation is likely to get worse - and Friday evening marks the start of the school holidays, with families gathering starting to travel."
READ ALSO: Will French farm protests disrupt Christmas travel?✎
While the blockades in the south-west are focused on the cattle culls, some French farmers are also joining a tractor convoy heading to Brussels to protest over the signing of the EU's Mercosur trade deal.
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