Ontario Trucking News, Issue 114, January 2013

CTA Pilot to Expand Use of the FAST Program
Sarnia, Ontario
- On December
7th, 2012, Patricia
Davidson, MP for Sarnia
- Lambton, together with
officials from the Canadian
Border Services Agency
(CBSA), the Blue Water
Bridge, blueRover and the
Canadian Trucking Alliance
(CTA) jointly announced
the launch of
an important pilot project
that aims to improve the
Free and Secure Trade
(FAST) program for Trusted
Traders. The pilot was a
key deliverable under the
Beyond the Border Action
Plan recently negotiated
between Canada and the
United States as part of
the Perimeter Vision Action
Plan.
“CTA has long sought
changes to Canada’s FAST
program to offer more
benefits to all trusted
traders by aligning its requirements
for eligibility
more with those of the
United States,” explained
the CEO of the trucking
alliance, David Bradley.
“We were pleased to see
this initiative included in
the Beyond the Borders
announcement and look
forward to eventual expansion
of the FAST pilot
policies across Canada.”
Currently, in order to
use the FAST lanes for
shipments into Canada
requirements are placed
on the drivers crossing the
border, the carriers (trucking
companies) responsible
for moving the freight
and the freight itself. Truck
drivers must possess either
a FAST card or a Commercial
Driver Registration
Program (CDRP) card.
Carriers must be members
of both the Canadian Part-
ners in Protection (PIP)
security program and the
Customs Self-Assessment
(CSA) program. All freight
on the truck must be from
shippers that are both PIP
and CSA approved. In the
United States, FAST participation
requires that the
drivers hold a FAST card,
but carriers and shippers
need only participate in
one security program -
Customs-Trade Partnership
Against Terrorism
(CTPAT).
Under the FAST pilot
which is being conducted
at Blue Water Bridge with
freight entering Canada
from the United States,
carriers and the shippers’
freight will need to be
either PIP or CSA approved,
but not both. This will bring
requirements in line with
that of the United States
in the hopes of creating
more traffic in the FAST
lanes and therefore more
efficient border crossings.
Deanna Pagnan of CTA,
who is working in partnership
with the government
agencies and coordinating
the carrier participation
says, “We fully expect the
pilot will show that we
can qualify more trucks for
FAST usage. While the industry
agrees greater participation
in Trusted Trader
programs by the importer
community is necessary,
this is an encouraging step
to facilitate efficient movement
of freight between
Canada and the US,” she
said.
Carriers participating in
the pilot met eligibility
requirements including
Trusted Trader status, sufficient
freight at Blue Water
Bridge and ability to ascertain
Trusted Trader status
of their importers. Carriers
in the pilot are also
submitting ACI eManifest
allowing them to benefit
from even faster clearance
at the border. As part of the
eMPlOyMenT
pilot, CTA has collected
pre-pilot traffic data at
the border to measure the
length of time it takes to
cross the bridge and clear
customs and will compare
it to traffic conditions under
the pilot. Collection and
comparison of this traffic
data is made possible by
technology donated by
OTA member blueRover,
which provides real time
tracking and monitoring
technology for vehicles
to improve transportation
efficiency. V
January 2013 33