Border Lines

A roundup of North American news:

Gridlock was the word for conditions at the U.S.-Canada border after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. At one point, truckers reported waits of up to 20 hours at Sarnia, Ont. Within two weeks, the backlog had been cleared at all border crossings except for Detroit-Windsor, where truckers and travelers experienced 45-minute waits. (For an update on wait times at major border crossings, click on "Border Wait Times" on Canada Customs' home page, www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca.) The CANPASS and NEXUS programs, which speed up the flow of low-risk passenger traffic, have been suspended until further notice because of the need for tighter border controls. Also suspended for that reason is U.S. Customs' International Trade Data System (ITDS) pilot.

Canada's transport minister, David Collenette, has announced three important transportation initiatives. First, Transport Canada will give C$17.8 million over the next three years to assist provinces and territories with implementation of the National Safety Code for motor carriers. The code sets performance standards for hours of service, load securement, vehicle maintenance, and safety ratings. Second, an amendment to the Carriage by Air Act will allow Canada to ratify the Montreal Convention, which establishes a new international liability regime for air cargo and baggage and facilitates the use of automated systems for documentation. Finally, Minister Collenette introduced legislation in the House of Commons that would create the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada. That quasi-judicial body would review administrative and enforcement actions taken under federal laws governing air, rail, and maritime transportation.

Rail traffic between the United States and Canada continues to surge, leading several carriers to expand facilities and launch new services. The St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway, a short line operated by Emons Transportation Group, has tripled capacity at its Auburn, Maine, intermodal terminal to accommodate increasing traffic between New England and Quebec. Canadian Pacific (CPR) and Norfolk Southern have launched a joint intermodal service between the Port of New York/New Jersey and eastern Canada that cuts transit times by a full day. Connections to western Canada are available via CPR at the Port of Montreal. Canadian National's new C$25 million Edmonton Intermodal Terminal opened for business last month. CN also announced a truck-competitive intermodal service with Union Pacific Railroad and Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana for shipments moving between central Canada, Michigan, Texas, and Mexico City.

NAFTA Notes: Transport International Pool
(TIP) has acquired most assets ofAction Trailer Leasing
of Mississauga, Ont. The move adds 3,600 trailers and four full-service facilities to TIP's portfolio. LTL carrierABF Freight Systems Inc.
now offers daily door-to-door service via El Paso, Texas, to Juarez and Chihuahua in partnership with Mexican carrierMultiPack. GE Capital Fleet Services
has acquiredAssociated Fleet Services
of Mississauga, Ont. Associated managed 50,000 vehicles in Canada under lease and service contracts.Atlas Cold Storage
has added 2.3 million square feet to one of the four temperature-controlled warehouses it operates in Montreal. A similar expansion is scheduled for April 2002 in Calgary.