BUFFALO, N.Y. (Dec. 9, 2004) — The Canadian Trucking Alliance and the American Trucking Associations teamed up yesterday to applaud a pre-clearance pilot project that would relocate of all U.S. border functions for both commercial and passenger traffic from the Buffalo, N.Y. side of the Peace Bridge to Fort Erie, Ont.

Both the CTA and ATA hope the project’s ultimate outcome involves full pre-clearance of U.S.-bound commercial traffic in Canada in order to reduce significant traffic disruptions and processing delays.

However, the focus still remains cloudy at this point. A second element of the pilot — supposedly favoured by some U.S. customs officials — would limit U.S. functions in Canada to pre-screening (e.g. VACIS (x-ray) scans, radiation monitoring, physical examination of cargo) only.

A joint ATA-CTA statement says: “We could not support an effort to “pre-screen” US-bound commercial vehicles on the Canadian side if it leads to a ‘thickening’ of the border rather than a more efficient and effective security control process.”

CTA CEO David Bradley said it’s still too early in the game to know exactly how the pilot will unfold, and whether the results may have relevance for other border crossings, “but we owe it to our members, to the shippers whose goods we carry, and to the people of both countries to constantly strive for improvements, and I’m hopeful this pilot will help us to learn how to do things better.”

The two trucking groups also stressed that the expedited processing benefits enjoyed by some FAST/C-TPAT carriers and drivers needs to protected and enhanced under the pilot. In addition, they call for special consideration for FAST-registered carriers and drivers who by nature of their business carry mixed loads of FAST and non-FAST freight.