The freight baton was handed from the CCP to Kent County Council at a special joint Summit held in Ashford on the 18th of March 2008, when the CCP launched the State of Freight Report that they had commissioned with Calais Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Over 70 representatives from the public local councils, transport agencies, port and ferry operators, the haulage industry and a French delegation, considered the implications of the State of Freight Report and how to manage freight more effectively due to the growth in numbers.

Beginning with presentations which put the report into context, the audience then moved into a plenary session where they could consider the issues raised by the report and the speakers. The feedback provided by the audience concurred with the presentations and the recommendations in the report.

Cllr Ferrin of Kent County Council, then closed the Summit by outlining the activity that the County would be taking forward over the next year and which would begin with the re-establishment of the Kent Freight Forum.