OTTAWA, Ont. — Motor carriers should be anticipating longer delays at border crossings this week with Friday’s upgrading of the U.S. security alert to “orange”, or high risk.

U.S. President George W. Bush increased the security alert after the FBI and Homeland Security Department said they had “specific intelligence” from “multiple sources” that suggested there could be new Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in the U.S.

A spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department told the media on the weekend that there shouldn’t be undue delays for Canadian travellers at U.S. border crossings or airports.

But a U.S. Customs Service spokesperson in Chicago said travellers should allow some additional time because inspections are being stepped up.

“Under alert level orange, we’re doing an increased amount of inspections and these inspections take on a more intense nature,” Cherise Miles told Canadian Press.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Canada’s federal minister in charge of customs, Elinor Caplan, said container trucks at Fort Erie, Niagara Falls and Windsor could expect extra checks in light of the orange alert in Washington.