ROCKY VIEW, AB — There is much joy in at least one part of trucking following news that the ability of carriers from both Canada and U.S. to conduct in-transit shipments through the other country is close to being achieved.

The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) reports in its newsletter the Canadian Trucking Alliance has been involved in intense discussions with Canadian and U.S. government officials and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in an attempt to break a log-jam that threatened to scupper any prospect of in-transit moves in either country.

Last spring, the Canadian and U.S. customs agencies appeared to reach a harmonization agreement on the data required for domestic goods transiting through the other country, but then went offside when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) subsequently insisted that the “value” of the in-transit goods remain on the list of required data elements for electronic submission, which CTA argued, would be practically impossible for carriers to provide for what is a domestic shipment.

For decades it had been common practice for Canadian carriers moving loads say from Toronto to Calgary to transit through the U.S., as opposed to crossing the top of the Lakehead in Northern Ontario, in order to take advantage of the superior multi-lane divided interstate highways which offer safer conditions, less wear and tear on vehicles, access to rest stops, etc, according to AMTA.

Since the goods were not entering the U.S. for consumption or being offloaded or stored, they could enter with minimal documentation. U.S. carriers made similar in-transit moves taking Canadian highways between points like Buffalo, NY and Detroit, MI.

However, U.S. changes to the cross border process in the aftermath of 9/11 led to in-transit shipments treated as international loads, subject to full documentation, including the problematic requirement for “value data,” effectively ending in-transit shipments through the U.S. for Canadian carriers.

Canada did not adopt the U.S. approach and therefore U.S. in-transit shipments were able to continue, creating an uneven playing field, according to the trucking groups.

In October meetings, CBP accepted a CTA proposal to allow Canadian carriers who are not able to provide a value for the shipments to designate a default value of $95,000.00 to the shipment. The figure is based on contract of carriage rules, where for claims purposes, a default value is based on $2 per pound for a 45,000 pound load.

Value and estimated value of goods will remain a CBP requirement, and must be provided, where it is obtainable by the carrier.

However, in cases where it is not obtainable, CBP has agreed that the default value will be acceptable. Additionally, if the goods are not properly repatriated back to Canada, the existing process, where a penalty will be issued based on the declared value of the load, whether it is actual, estimated or default, remains in place.

The next step, likely to occur during the summer of 2015, is for CBP to launch a short-term pilot involving no more than nine carriers to begin moving goods in-transit through designated U.S. ports, according to AMTA.