FORT ERIE, Ont. (April 14, 2003) — The general rate increase committee of the North American Transportation Council has added a security surcharge to its rules tariff on shipments crossing the U.S.-Canada border by truck.

The Fort Erie, Ont., group, which monitors the operating costs and rates of cross-border trucking companies and publishes tariff guidelines, said carriers should charge customers $10 per shipment with a billed weight of less than 10,000 pounds, and $25 per shipment with a billed weight of 10,000 pounds or more.

In addition, if delays at the border exceed one hour a Border Delay Charge should apply. This charge was established by the GRC for carriers to recoup costs associated with crossing the Canada-U.S. border.

“We’ve seen an interest in this type of surcharge for some time, and recently have seen individual carriers putting it in place to try to recoup the costs of complying with new security programs,” said Ken Leising, the group’s director of research.

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