Border Lines
Saff -- Logistics Management, 7/1/2001
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Two U.S. Customs Service pilot programs affecting cross-border shipment data are now under way. In May, the CAFES (Customs Automated Forms Entry System) project was launched in Laredo, Texas, and Port Huron, Mich. Participating motor carriers will use two-dimensional bar codes to speed up the processing of in-bond documentation. Customs inspectors scan the bar codes, instantly uploading information to the ACS (Automated Commercial System) operating system. In just seconds, the information is validated and the in-bond shipment can be released. Earlier this month, the long-awaited ITDS (International Trade Data System) project began its test phase at Buffalo, N.Y.-area bridges. ITDS is expected to link federal agencies that require international trade data into a single system, eliminating the need for importers to file the same information in different forms with multiple agencies.
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United Parcel Service has become one of the largest customs brokers along the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada. Big Brown has purchased two well-known Southwestern brokers, the Miles Group Inc., parent company of Herman Miles Trucking and Rudolph Miles & Sons customs brokers in El Paso, Texas, and William F. Joffroy Inc. of Nogales, Ariz. On the northern border, UPS snapped up H.A.&J.L. Wood Inc. of Pembina, N.D.; Border Brokerage Co. of Blaine, Wash.; Fulfillment Systems International of Buffalo, N.Y.; Trans-Border Customs Service of Champlain, N.Y.; and W.Y. Moberly Inc. of Sweetgrass, Mont. The acquisitions are part of the formation of a new customs brokerage and freight-forwarding subsidiary that also includes Fritz Cos.
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Mayan Ocean Lines is the latest to try its hand at running a U.S. Gulf-to-Mexico ocean service. The Mexican carrier will offer weekly, fixed-day container service from the Port of Mobile, Ala., to the ports of Progreso and Seybaplaya, just outside of Mérida and Campeche, respectively. Strachan Shipping Agency of Mobile has been appointed as agent.
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The U.S. Customs Service last month named Rudy M. Camacho coordinator for all ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. A familiar face at many border ports, Camacho will be responsible for coordinating customs activities with state, local, and other federal agencies. Camacho's most recent position was director of the Southern California Customs Management Center, where he was responsible for overseeing all inspection and commercial activities at five border stations and five entry ports.
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NAFTA Notes: Consolidated Freightways has opened the largest LTL freight terminal on the U.S.-Mexico border. The 93-door facility, located in Laredo, Texas, includes a 51,000-square-foot warehouse and can handle up to two million pounds of freight daily moving between CF and its Mexican joint venture, Transportes CF Alfri-Loder.BAX Global has introduced its BAXSaver service between the United States and nine major cities in Canada. BAXSaver is a distance-based, zone-priced service for time-definite door-to-door shipments. Englewood, N.J.-basedPrimac Air, which has carried U.S.-Canada traffic for many years, has received operating authority for scheduled all-cargo flights between Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa, and for charter flights anywhere in Canada.
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