Con-Way Transportation Services today announced that effective January 2, its four LTL operating units will apply a homeland security surcharge of $8 on all shipments moving across the Canadian border.
Company officials cited the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent cost of government-mandated changes in freight security at the border as the reason for the surcharge.
Those changes have included registration of each piece of equipment and each driver who crosses the border, as well as mandated changes by both the U.S. and Canadian customs authorities concerning cross-border documents and security inspections. As a result, Con-Way said the time to cross the border has increased, which ties up equipment and lengthens trip times.
"As government agencies on both sides of the border have continued to formulate and modify security plans, the increased cost impact has become a constant within our operations," CFO Douglas W. Stotlar said. "It's now time to begin to recover these costs."
