CF shares electronic in-bond data with Customs

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2000

LTL carrier Consolidated Freightways (CF) now has an electronic link between the company's terminal in Toronto and the U.S. Customs Service. The connection-which CF says is the first for transmitting in-bond data between a trucker and U.S. Customs-eliminates the need for customs brokers to process documentation at the border.

Shipments entering the United States are placed "in-bond" when data needed for customs clearance is not immediately available or when a shipment must clear customs at destination rather than at the port of entry. A customs broker or customs-bonded carrier assumes responsibility for fulfilling customs requirements before releasing in-bond freight to the consignee.

Usually, an importer hires a customs broker to create and process in-bond documentation at the border. But because CF now electronically transmits data for in-bond shipments to U.S. Customs via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) network, the carrier can activate a customs bond itself without a broker's assistance. As a result, a company representative says, CF has been able to shave one to two days off cross-border transit times.