TORONTO, (Feb. 18, 2005) — There is significant confusion among shippers, carriers, and drivers of what their responsibilities are under new U.S. Customs advanced cargo information rules that took effect earlier this year.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has just completed a nation-wide survey that measured the scope of monetary fines being handed to carriers for not being in full compliance with various aspects of the U.S. Trade Act.

Carriers and owner-ops were being issued fines ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 for not properly filing paperwork or advancing it to U.S. Customs within the acceptable timeframe required by Customs and Border Protection. (Non-FAST carriers have to submit data at least an hour before arrival at the border; while FAST-approved shipments are allowed 30 minutes).

With many carriers indicating they were receiving fines because of errors created by custom brokers or shippers, CTA decided to look into the issue further.

The survey — conducted with carriers across the country, moving a variety of different products and commodities — shows that a number of carriers were not fully aware of the rules, or were unsure of their responsibilities under the regulation. Many of those companies have now launched internal educational programs to improve compliance.

There have also been several instances where fines have been issued to the carrier, despite fault clearly resting elsewhere in the supply chain, the survey found.

This confirms what sources told TodaysTrucking.com last month when the “soft enforcement period” for compliance ended and CBP started handing out fines. Many carriers and owner-ops — especially short-haul operators close to the border — were being slapped with fines because of paperwork problems surfacing at the shipper or broker stages.

Examples cited by the CTA survey include: Shipper miscommunication with carriers concerning the submission of advanced cargo information; training issues with shippers and brokers where shipment information was not submitted or forwarded to the wrong U.S. port of entry; U.S. Customhouse brokers providing incorrect information and procedures to carriers concerning compliance requirements; problems with broker forwarding information to CBP such as broken fax machines or inability to handle the volume of entries.

Customs experts have told Today’s Trucking that brokers realistically need about two hours on top of the one-hour customs requirement. Therefore, at least until the rule matures, the interval for carriers should be no less than three hours.

In response to growing concerns from the trucking industry over the fairness of the penalty system, staff from CTA and the American Trucking Associations recently met with CBP staff in Washington to discuss the issue. CTA says the U.S. border agency “was very receptive to the industry’s concerns and will review them carefully.”

Until CBP makes any amendments, the Ontario Trucking Association is advising carriers to mitigate all fines that they receive for non-compliance. Reports to OTA have also indicated that fines for C-TPAT carriers will be significantly less upon mitigation than those carriers not participating in this carrier-customs partnership. (CTA’s survey respondents also confirmed what Todaystrucking.com previously reported as rumour — that such carriers can get fines reduced to as low as $500 by calling up CBP and appealing the penalty).

Upon receipt of a fine, OTA suggest carriers take the following steps:

Gather all information concerning the incident (customs paperwork, fax confirmation sheets, etc.); speak to the driver that received the fine to get all the details of what transpired; and immediately contact the CBP contact indicated on the bottom of the penalty sheet to begin the fine mitigation process.

Meanwhile, CBP recently informed the OTA it will not extend once again the deadline for drivers hauling BRASS line release shipments to get their FAST card. The card is required to continue to move BRASS. Carriers using non-FAST drivers need to switch to the Pre-Arrival Processing System.

CBP moved up the deadline from Jan. 31 to May 1. because of delays in processing FAST applications. Non-FAST drivers with BRASS shipments will continue to receive informed compliance notices, but will be turned back at the border on that date.

OTA estimates about 70,000 of the 87,000 or so drivers involved in cross-border trucking have applied for FAST, but to date, less than 30,000 of those drivers have completed the process. Last week, Canada Border Services Agency announced it’s introducing a pilot project to test portable FAST Enrollment Centres across the country in order to help drivers complete the arduous face-to-face interview stage of the application process.