US, Canada Set to Begin Pilot Program to Speed Freight Flow at Peace Bridge

This story appears in the Feb. 17 print edition of Transport Topics.

The United States and Canada said they are set to launch the second phase of a pilot program to speed the flow of freight at the border by having U.S.-bound trucks inspected on Canadian soil.

The expected launch will be Feb. 24 at the Peace Bridge, which connects Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ontario. The preclearance and pre-inspection pilot program is expected to last at least six months.

The first phase of the program lasted five months last year at the crossing in Blaine, Wash., and U.S.-bound trucks were inspected on the north side of the border in Surrey, British Columbia.

At the Peace Bridge, the truck inspectors will be part of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, as they were at the Surrey site.

“In theory, part of this is to make sure that there is a level of feasibility in making it long term,” said Jenny Burke, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) hailed the launch of the pilot program at the bridge, saying he will push to make the program permanent.

“It’s been a long road to get the Peace Bridge chosen as one of only two pilot sites in the country and then to get all American and Canadian officials on board, but I am confident it will prove worth the wait,” Schumer said in a statement.

“The pilot program will make history in Western New York and, if it’s successful, could lead to its permanence and the relocation of all truck inspections to Ontario.”

Schumer said he believes the program will relieve the traffic congestion on the nearly 90-year-old bridge, where the U.S. customs plaza is more than 60 years old.

According to the Border Trade Alliance, which pressed for the Peace Bridge to be chosen for the pilot program, 1.3 million truck trips a year cross the bridge.

The pilot program was authorized under an agreement signed in March by the United States and Canada. That agreement is part of a larger agreement called the “Beyond the Border Action Plan,” which both countries signed in 2011.

The plan represents an effort by the two countries to ease both passenger and cargo movement across the border.

A December report posted on the White House website said the Surrey pilot was “successfully implemented,” with officers pre-inspecting about 3,500 U.S.-bound trucks.

“I think successful in this sense means that it worked; they were able to put it in place,” said Customs’ Burke. “For as friendly as we are with Canada, the laws are different for each country, so it’s working through all those laws and making sure that each law enforcement entity can, in fact, do their job, regardless of where they’re actually sitting on the border.”

At the Peace Bridge, new lanes and facilities have been constructed on the Canadian side so U.S.-bound trucks can pull over to be inspected before getting onto the aged bridge.

The bridge is owned and operated under an international compact by the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.