OTTAWA — The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) wants to focus on a “short, do-able” list when it comes to regulatory cooperation between Canada and the United States.

CTA’s contribution to the discussion focused on a few key goals that it believes will reduce freight costs and increase productivity on both sides of the border.

The Canada–U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) was created by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama to improve regulatory transparency and coordination between the two countries. Members of the council have a two-year mandate to develop an agenda to guide future discussions.

In a submission to the Canadian section of that council, CTA made three suggestions for the agenda:

* Streamline the process for moving “in-transit” goods (freight being hauled domestically, but through the other country’s territory for geographic expediency, such as when Canadian carriers travel through northeastern states to get from Atlantic Canada to Quebec and Ontario, or when U.S. carriers travel through Ontario to move freight between Buffalo and Detroit). U.S. rules have basically shut-down in-transit shipments through that country while the current Canadian rules still permit in-transit shipments.

* Provide the trucking industry with greater flexibility to re-position foreign empty trailers using foreign drivers. The goal would be to reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with current Canadian and U.S. restrictions on “spotting” an empty foreign trailer to the pick-up point of its return load home. This would not  impact current rules that reserve freight movements to the domestic industry.

* Cooperate on the establishment of a North American standard for proven fuel saving devices. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a device called a “boat-tail” – an aerodynamic fairing attached to the back of a tractor-trailer combination that improves fuel efficiency by 6–8 per cent – but no standard currently exists in Canada. The adoption of similar standards by the two governments will not only reduce trucking costs and produce environmental benefits it will also help ensure the unimpeded flow of vehicles bearing these devices across the border.

CTA CEO David Bradley said, “The work of the Regulatory Cooperation Council presents an important opportunity to address some fundamental, yet relatively simple issues that drive up the cost and impair the productivity of moving goods between Canada and the U.S.”

He cautions, however, that “there is a lot of work to do even to resolve these relatively simple matters.”