Monitor emerging security requirements and legislation that may impact commercial vehicle business processes.

The IMTC ITS CVO – Border Crossing Deployment stakeholders experience with changes in security policies in Washington State and British Columbia.

Date Posted
04/13/2006
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Identifier
2006-L00213

Washington State-British Columbia: International Mobility and Trade Corridor (IMTC)

Summary Information

The International Mobility and Trade Corridor (IMTC) Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Commercial Vehicle Operation (CVO) – Border Crossing Deployment Project was undertaken in 1997 by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, and Transport Canada. The goal of the bi-national, multiyear border freight ITS deployment program was to deploy ITS technologies to improve border crossing operations between Washington, USA and British Columbia, Canada.

This deployment provided an opportunity to examine the feasibility of integrating Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI), Weigh-In-Motion (WIM), and electronic container seals with the U.S. Customs Service’s Automated Manifest System (AMS). The integrated system was designed to coordinate shipper, motor carrier, and international governmental agency operations and processes seamlessly through a single internet-based information system. Upon completion of the physical infrastructure (i.e., additional lanes and revamped customs booth areas), the coordinated processes and technologies were expected to relieve some of the congestion at border crossing facilities, improve the efficiency of enforcement agencies, and reduce the delay that trucks encounter as they wait to cross the U.S. - Canadian border.

Lessons Learned

Monitoring emerging security requirements and the legislation that may impact commercial vehicle business processes are critical to the success of border-crossing projects. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Customs Service (USCS) has implemented new security processes throughout the global supply chain to ensure cargo screening and early intervention of suspicious shipments. This has mainly been accomplished by requiring increased carrier and freight information compliance, and longer lead times in which the private sector entities are to provide information to enforcement and regulatory authorities.



While these efforts support emerging national security needs, care must be taken to minimize negative impacts on businesses. An example of the potential impacts to businesses of greater customs requirements can be demonstrated by private sector reaction to the “strawman" rule proposed by USCS in 2002. Under the Trade Act of 2002, Congress directed the USCS to develop a final rule that would define the parameters for carriers' transmittal of foreign cargo manifests to USCS electronically before the cargo's entry into the United States. In response, USCS promulgated a "strawman" proposal requiring the manifests to be transmitted to USCS four (4) hours in advance of cargo lading. Industry reaction to the proposal was strongly negative, focusing on the business impacts of disruption in just-in-time logistics and the potential for additional security exposures. Due to such widespread criticism, on February 14, 2003, USCS announced that it has retracted the proposal.



The following are related suggestions derived from the evaluation of the IMTC Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Commercial Vehicle Operation (CVO) – Border Crossing Deployment Project:

  • Realize that unexpected current events can result in changes to import/export security requirements. Freight shipment security has increased since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The USCS has implemented several new programs to ensure the security and safety of trans-border shipments, including: the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, the Container Security Initiative (CSI), and the Free and Secure Trade Program (FAST) program.
  • Be mindful of legislation and regulatory rules that can result in major impacts to business processes. Shippers, consignees, and transportation providers responded that the USCS 4-hour rule did not integrate with business production cycles and operating windows. It would create delays and added costs in the shipment of goods. Additionally, the level of detail of information required by USCS was seen as a potential source of leaks of confidential shipment information that can encourage pilferage and security breaches. The proposal also drew strong criticism from motor carriers who invested considerable resources to comply with expedited clearance programs such as C-TPAT and FAST. Under the proposal, the requirements for these carriers would be the same as for carriers not enrolled in the programs.
  • Consider developing a marketing program to raise private sector awareness of the benefits and to encourage participation. The IMTC Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Commercial Vehicle Operation (CVO) – Border Crossing Deployment Project evaluation estimated that private sector participation could result in substantial benefits related to travel time savings at the border crossings and weigh stations due to the automated identification and screening of compliant drivers/loads/vehicles/carriers. In addition, all stakeholders in the supply chain will benefit from travel time savings and administrative efficiencies enabled directly or indirectly from ITS. The private sector should be made aware of these benefits through educational outreach directly through government channels or from organizations such as the IMTC.
  • Conduct benefit-cost analysis to support the need for the project. The benefit-cost analysis conducted in the project evaluation stage provided overwhelming justification for the deployment of the ITS-based dedicated truck lanes and bi-national virtual weigh station operational concepts at the Blaine/Surrey international border crossing. While private sector benefits far outstripped public sector benefits, the payback time for public investment was still only six (6) years even under the most conservative benefit-cost modeling scenario.



Emerging security requirements, unexpected current events, and legislation and regulatory rules can affect commercial vehicle business processes in the import/export of shipments. In addition, enforcement agencies, such as the USCS, have implemented several new programs (C-TPAT, CSI, and FAST) to ensure the security and safety of trans-border shipments since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The evaluation of the IMTC Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Commercial Vehicle Operation (CVO) – Border Crossing Deployment Project found that private sector participation could result in substantial benefits related to travel time savings at the border crossings and weigh stations due to the automated identification and screening.



This lesson provides stakeholders with several suggestions for supporting the success of similar projects by monitoring emerging changes in security requirements and legislation and considering the use of a marketing program to raise private sector awareness of the benefits to encourage participation.