Ferry companies are being called on to "up their game" and do more to alleviate the crisis caused by the closure of Holyhead port after Christmas.
President of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), Ger Hyland, said it has been a "very trying and costly time" for the industry, and that ferry companies must do more.
It was recently announced that the port will remain closed until at least January 15th, 2025, due to damages caused by Storm Darragh.
Following a meeting between the IRHA and Minister of State James Lawless, Hyland said there is "momentum gathering" and that the Department of Transport escalated this to the senior members of government in the UK.
He said the situation now requires Taoiseach Simon Harris to speak to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as he has already spoken to the Welsh Minister for Transport.
The Deptartment of Transport is looking into using other ports such as Liverpool and Milford Haven for the New Year.
Hyland said the department is pressurising the UK authorities to get one of these ports or both as extra options.
"Depending on the type of operation being run in our sector losses of as much as €3,000 per week per vehicle have been reported," he said.
"We appreciate the level of dialogue with Ministers Ryan and James Lawless and their teams to date, we believe that this engagement will bear fruit especially when this has been escalated to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"We have 10 to 12 days now to get our house in order for the inevitable January trade returns to normal levels pre the crisis.
"We are over the Christmas period now in that we can’t get any more freight in at this stage as passengers and cars take precedence, and we need to look to the future and what ports we can use to get the capacity levels in and out of the UK back up."
Hyland said some drivers would have been stranded and but they have had to fly them home so that they will be home for Christmas.
"We need correct and true information from Holyhead with a definite timeline so we can plan for the future as up to now this has been fed to us in a piecemeal fashion."
