OTTAWA — Nearly a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Canada-U.S. border is still not running very smoothly; and politicians have not delivered on promises to fix it.

That’s the word from Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley, who, in a speech to a CANAM Border Trade Alliance in Ottawa, said governments "have not lived up to the bargain with the trade community made almost a decade ago in which they were told if they invested in enhanced border security, the payback would be in quick and easy border crossings."

"But it hasn’t turned out that way," said Bradley.

After a rocky start, programs like Free and Secure Trade (FAST) and Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) are working fine, says Bradley, "but for the most part we have seen a layering of border security programs and piling on by several agencies of government."

Still, Bradley says he remains hopeful governments can remove some of this redundancy in the future, adding that discussions with Canada Border Services Agency have been productive and the CTA’s first meeting with the new chief at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was also "very positive."

But, he cautions, "action, not words is what we need.

Governments need to listen and they need to ensure that the resources are there to do the job."