The Logistics Review – Cross-Border Trucking

“We are seeing heightened levels of truck inspections,” confirms Sandro Caccaro, vice-president and general manager at Schneider National. “When legitimate carriers are being pulled aside for inspection, that’s when delays and costs start to rack up for both the carrier and the shipper.”

The opportunity

So is there any way to make cross-border shipping any less of a hassle? The answer is yes—but only if shippers are willing to do a little legwork.

Most security programs are significantly more effective when supported by shippers. When border officials are presented with well-documented evidence that shipments are safe, there is much less likelihood that they will probe further.

This is because in order to be classified as low-risk, carriers need information about what they have in the trailer, which almost always must come from the owners of the cargo. This is a particularly important issue for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments; to get any benefit at the border, carriers must ensure that each shipper with a load in the trailer has provided sufficient information to be deemed low-risk.

This trying situation is prompting carriers to encourage their customers to go through the security certification process.

“We’re really under the microscope now for both PIP and C-TPAT,” says Clayton Gording, president of cross-border carrier YRC Reimer. “We’re at the point where we have to do internal audits to make sure all our security programs are in place in-house. And we really should be auditing our shippers to make sure they’re compliant as well. But it’s very difficult to do that.”

Indeed, many shippers—who are paying good money for someone else to carry their cargo for them—resent being asked to do more work for the carrier. But the interests of the two parties are intertwined; when a truck gets stopped at the border, the consequences for shippers are every bit as serious as they are for carriers.

In the past, many shippers have been able to dodge security responsibilities by blaming border delays on high volume. The past year has shattered that theory. As a result, many are now recognizing the value of doing the extra work needed to become PIP- and/or C-TPAT-compliant.

“Shippers are a lot more savvy now,” Caccaro says. “They’re realizing that if they just give the carriers what they need, it will run much more smoothly.”

“If the shipper is going to have a problem, if it’s dealt with before the driver gets the goods, ultimately the shipper will be able to keep transportation costs down,” Bowen adds.