TORONTO, (Jan. 28, 2005) — Some carriers scrabbling to get FAST-approved in order to meet a new U.S. Customs border clearance rule have been granted some breathing room.

Carriers hauling freight using the common Border Release Advance Screening and Selectivity (BRASS) release system were required to be FAST-approved by Jan. 31, 2005 for a selected group of U.S.-Canada ports. Any non-FAST carrier or driver that showed up at the border with a BRASS shipment would not have been allowed into the U.S.

However, Windsor-based Customs clearance and consulting firm D. Dent & Associates confirms that Customs and Border Protection has agreed to begin enforcement of the FAST card requirement for BRASS shipments on May 1, 2005 because of delays in processing FAST applications. Non-FAST drivers with BRASS shipments will continue to receive informed compliance notices.

Since CBP published its enforcement schedule in October 2004 there has been a surge in applications that has exceeded the capacity for FAST officials to process.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimates about 70,000 of the 87,000 or so drivers involved in cross-border trucking have applied for FAST registration, but to date, less than 30,000 of those drivers have completed the process, leaving more than 40,000 drivers at various stages of processing.

CTA applauded the announcement, but questioned whether the May 1st deadline is still enough time for the driver applications to be processed. Moreover, CTA — which has been lobbying for an extension, is also asking CBP to clarify the procedures under which it assesses $5,000 to $10,000 fines for non-compliance with advance cargo information rules.

Last week TodaysTrucking.com reported that carriers are getting slapped with fines of up to $10,000 because drivers are arriving at the border before PAPS cargo information is processed by CBP, despite the fact shippers and brokers may have be responsible for the forwarding delays. “This is another important matter that we hope to have resolved soon,” said Bradley.