GREEN BAY, Wis. — Schneider National has launched Canada Direct, a service that pre-clears customers’ loads to help increase the speed of cross-border rail moves.

“We put down intermodal roots in Canada more than 20 years ago,” says Steve Van Kirk, senior vice-president of intermodal commercial management for Schneider National. “In that time, we’ve pioneered the expertise to pre-clear customers’ loads to move quickly across the border, saving cost and reducing delays. In addition to developing this expertise, our relationship with the Canadian National [Railway] ensures that our customers’ shipments arrive on time by receiving priority placement on the train. All the benefits of Canada Direct service are achieved with a single point of contact so customers have continual visibility of their freight.”

Canada Direct already has heavy usage by Canadian shippers moving their products cross-border in and out of the US, officials say.

“Canada Direct was intended to be a premium door-to-door service offering that would make doing business across the US-Canada border – the largest international trade lane – much more seamless for shippers, and that is exactly what we are delivering,” Van Kirk said.

Shippers like Gord Kipfer, vice-president of Vitran Logistics Limited in Concord, Ont., says the new service is helping his business run smoother and more efficiently. “We’ve reduced transit time by one day as we move freight from the Southwestern US to Canada,” Kipfer said. “I think any service that helps you eliminate an entire day from your supply chain – like Schneider’s Canada Direct service does for our business – will be well received in the marketplace.”

“Schneider is a great relationship for Canadian National,” says Paul Waite, vice-president of intermodal at CN. “As a premium asset-based intermodal provider running in and out of Canada, their vast resources help them bring in freight and allow them to service the needs of both Canadian and US shippers trying to do business in the Canadian marketplace.”

For more information on Canada Direct, call 920-592-3745 or e-mail convertto_im@schneider.com.