OTA ensures carriers will have border-crossing selection when ACE is rolled out
TORONTO — The Ontario Trucking Association, working in cooperation with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Michigan, says the selection of border crossings for truck traffic will remain in effect when CBP rolls out their new program for entering commercial freight into the US known as ACE (Automated Commercial Environment).
The ability for truck traffic to divert from one US commercial port of entry to another is essential and no more so important than the ability for US bound truck traffic to divert between Detroit or Port Huron Michigan, says OTA President David Bradley in a press release.
Currently truck traffic has the ability to divert without notifying customs of a change in the border crossing the truck will use to enter the US. The industry finally achieved this option after nearly two decades of lobbying which would have been all but lost had OTA and CBP in Michigan not become involved, Bradley says.
A programming oversight in the new ACE program would have removed this flexibility from the supply chain causing the potential for trucks to continue on to Detroit or Port Huron regardless of road conditions, OTA reports. Without flexibility in the system trucks could not divert to one crossing or another should challenges arise such as weather, construction, accidents or border delays at one crossing or another.
Flexibility in the supply chain is essential for trucking companies to maintain their service levels in delivering Ontario’s exports to the US industrial heartland, especially the heavily concentrated automotive industry in Southeastern Michigan and North Western Ohio.
“A seamless transition to the new program is expected by all parties and OTA encourages carriers to who move freight into the US to get on board with the ACE program as soon as possible to ensure they are not left behind when the program becomes mandatory,” says Bradley.
OTA will be hosting a series of seminars on ACE over the next few months to offer carriers the opportunity to hear from CBP on the new program.
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