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Blue Water Bridge
nnovative tracking and monitoring technology is being introduced for the first time at one of the busiest Canada/US border crossings to help ease costly delays and move commercial traffic more quickly. blueRover technology is at the heart of a 6 month pilot project aimed to improve the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program for Trusted Traders and announced last month at the Blue Water Bridge by Sarnia- Lambton MP Patricia Davidson, the Canadian Trucking Alliance, Canada Border Services Agency, the Blue Water Bridge and blueRover. Approximately 1,400 trucks from across Ontario and Quebec are involved in the pilot that is part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan announced by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama to improve the efficiency of trade. Currently, in order to use the FAST lanes for shipments into Canada requirements are placed on the drivers crossing the border, the carriers (trucking companies) responsible for moving the freight and the freight itself. Truck drivers must possess either a FAST card or a Commercial Driver Registration Program (CDRP) card. Carriers must be members of both the Canadian Partners in Protection (PIP) security program and the Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) program. And, all freight on the truck must be from shippers that are both PIP and CSA approved. In the United States, FAST participation requires
that the drivers hold a FAST card, but carriers and shippers need only participate in one security program – CustomsTrade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). Under the FAST pilot which is being conducted at Blue Water Bridge with freight entering Canada from the United States, carriers and the shippers’ freight will need to be either PIP or CSA approved, but not both. This will bring requirements in line with that of the United States in the hopes of creating more traffic in the FAST lanes and therefore more efficient border crossings. Participating trucks will be equipped with a blueRover sensor on the dash to measure traffic flows, and the time it takes to cross the border using the FAST lane compared to the regular lane. “Time savings translates into a huge cost savings for trucking companies and the economy,” said Loreto Saccucci, CEO of blueRover. “It’s exciting to see blueRover technology become a big part of the solution to moving goods across the border far more efficiently.” With approximately 6,000 commercial vehicles crossing the Blue Water Bridge daily, it is Canada’s second-busiest international commercial crossing for trucks and the third busiest for total vehicles. Border delays cost Canada’s economy between $15-billion and $30- billion a year. RT
January 2013 RoadToday.com
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