Just-in-time inventory threatened by latest U.S. security measure: CTA

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HOUSTON, Tx. — The latest of U.S. border security measures is threatening to strangle just-in-time shipping and cross-border trade, says the head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA).

David Bradley, the chief executive officer of the CTA, says proposed rules requiring the electronic submission of cargo data to U.S. Customs four hours before a U.S.-bound truck is loaded in Canada, and 24 hours before a truck is loaded in the U.S. with a Canada-bound shipment, “would cause mayhem” in the trucking industry and with just-in-time inventory management systems.

“The proposed pre-notification time frames are unthinkable under just-in-time inventory systems,” he says.

Bradley made the comments about the proposed rules, announced last week by U.S. security officials, at a meeting of the National Industrial Transportation League highway committee.

He says the technology needed to comply with the proposed rules would be “enormously expensive for all carriers, and would be prohibitive for many smaller carriers.”

Bradley adds that a combination of measures — including this proposal, a new law banning Canadian drivers from hauling explosives into the U.S.starting Jan. 24, and a proposal to introduce a Transportation Workers Identity Card that might not be available to Canadians — is undermining gains made with the 30 Point Smart Border Plan and putting the world’s largest trading partnership “in serious jeopardy.”

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