While we tackle one border problem to our south, we can’t forget about another potential problem down the road. That’s right, Canada.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is pushing for the creation of a cabinet committee to deal with U.S.-Canadian border issues. One such issue, according to CTA boss David Bradley, is the amount of time it takes for trucks to cross the border. In an article on Today’sTrucking.com, Bradley says the current economic crisis is just masking a “thickening” of the board.
"Even though carriers aren't experiencing the extended border delays that frequently plagued cross-border shipments over the past several years, this should not be taken as evidence that all is well at the border, but simply that the level of cross-border truck traffic has fallen off sharply, reflecting the current economic recession,” he said. Bradley went on to argue that if things at the border were in fact good, then crossing times should be quicker with fewer trucks, but that’s not the case.
Bradley even suggested a border czar to coordinate the different departments and streamline border procedures while also pointing out that as Canada adds technology “such as an electronic truck manifest that we harmonize, to the extent possible, with the U.S, and that we don’t impose new requirements that will complicate, rather than simplify, the border crossing process.”
It turns out, Bradley is a man who gets it.