DB Schenker, a major logistics company owned by German rail giant Deutsche Bahn AG, suspended deliveries to the U.K. due to “significant” problems caused by post-Brexit red tape.

Hundreds of stranded truck drivers hoped to get the green light to leave Britain on Dec. 22 as the country found itself increasingly isolated and its trade bottled up, cut off by neighbors afraid of a new strain of the coronavirus circulating in England.

Logistics companies including DB Schenker and DSV Panalpina A/S have begun chartering planes to keep U.K. factories supplied with components and avoid snarls in road and sea transport caused by Brexit.

Household-name companies including Tesla Inc. and Kraft Heinz Co. are racing to avoid a Brexit crisis at year-end, as a shortage of customs brokers threatens their ability to move goods between Britain and the European Union.

AMSTERDAM — The long and arduous path to Brexit has been rife with political wrangling, but companies and government agencies have been preparing for disruption despite the uncertainty of the outcome.