BORDER LINES

A roundup of North American news:

Interest in the logistics and freight transportation fields in Mexico clearly is growing. A visit to the Transportaci�n Intermodal 2000 exposition and conference, held last month in Veracruz, Mexico, turned up plenty of evidence that logistics professionals in that country were burning to catch up with their U.S. and Canadian counterparts in terms of knowledge and execution. The country now has half a dozen freight transportation and logistics-oriented magazines, including such titles as Revista Intermodal, Autotransporte 2000, and Global Transportaci�n. Most of the transportation and logistics titles are less than two years old.

The number of trade shows focusing on transportation and logistics in Mexico also is growing, with a total of five annual shows now on the calendar. Transportaci�n Intermodal 2000, organized by Expo M�xico and the newly formed Intermodal Transportation Association of Mexico, is the first in Mexico to be devoted entirely to intermodal transportation. The trade show garnered about 60 exhibitors, while conference sessions were standing room only, with more than 200 shippers and service providers registered. Session topics included the role of intermodalism in the new economy; intermodal transportation and its impact on distribution strategies; and views on intermodal service offered by shippers, customs brokers, railroads, and motor carriers. Conference attendees also visited the Port of Veracruz, Mexico's largest container port and an important shipping center for a multitude of bulk cargoes.

After more than 16 months in effect on the U.S.-Canada border and seven months on the U.S.-Mexico border, the U.S. Customs Service's Border Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity cargo-processing system (mercifully known as BRASS) has been declared a success. The successor to the Line Release System, BRASS assigns bar codes to shippers of high-volume, highly compliant cargoes. Shippers that qualify after undergoing a rigorous security and compliance check receive a unique alphanumeric identifier, known as a "C-4" code. The code, reproduced as a bar code, identifies the shipper, importer, filer of customs documents, and product. When an inspector "wands" the bar code on the entry documents, details appear on the inspector's screen, and a release can be authorized in minutes. The two BRASS Processing Centers, in Otay Mesa, Calif., and St. Albans, Vt., communicate daily with customs brokers via the Internet.

NAFTA Notes: Forward Air Inc. has opened a terminal at the Industrial Air Park in Laredo, Texas, under the direction of Cesar Garza. Rudolph Miles & Sons, Herman-Miles Integrated Services, and Miles & Joffroy Brokers have merged into a single integrated company under the name Miles Group Inc. The company is based in El Paso, Texas, and has offices at major gateways on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Canadian Transportation Research Forum at its recent annual general meeting named a new board of directors for 2000-2001, including President Gordon E. Tufts of Manitoba Highways and Executive Vice President Dr. Eric Hildebrand of the University of New Brunswick. CTRF also awarded five graduate-level scholarships and four prizes for transportation research papers.