Atlantic truckers hoping for FAST program
FREDERICTON, N.B. — Lobbying efforts are expected to go into high gear this week to convince Ottawa it should let cross-border truckers from New Brunswick to get on board with the FAST program.
Tobique-Mactaquac MP, Andy Savoy, and the trucking industry want to bring the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program to the Woodstock-Houlton crossing.
Now in place at just six ports across the country, FAST allows shipments for approved companies, transported by approved carriers using registered drivers, to be cleared into either country with greater speed and certainty, and at reduced cost.
Savoy wants a meeting with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency minister, Elinor Caplan, to discuss the proposal in detail.
“This could make cross-border commercial shipments much simpler and cheaper for Atlantic Canada’s trucking firms,” Savoy says.
“There is a lot of money spent and time lost travelling to process forms in Quebec or Ontario when the paperwork could be done here," says Savoy. "We need a commercial vehicle processing facility in Atlantic Canada.”
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