Back Office Support ???????

[nightcreacher]

Just another reason my truck is to big to cross the border,at least it is with a 53' trailer

[greg334]

You know what I did was not just talk to CBP but started to study for a brokerage license. There is a lot more to this than emanifest, ACE, and Fast paperwork.

The biggest problem I found out is the CBP don’t always get the right information about changes made by the congress or the DHS. Some CBP officers are too arrogant to follow the rules and the DHS must have a memo that says that they are to hassle Americans coming into the states and let the middle east people through without questioning (yes this has happened to us a few times).

Beside that, I agree with most of what everyone says but I don’t agree that this is the driver’s responsibility; it really is the carrier’s responsibility to ensure that the load gets through customs. The driver has the responsibility that they have the proper paper work filled out properly and initially faxed or transmitted to the broker. The company needs to be on top of the paper work, find out if the there is a road block or a lazy bunch of people at the brokers (Livingston?).

There is a two part cure.

One would be having small staff, not just dispatchers (I tend to think that dispatchers would not be the right group to give the responsibility to) who I have said are either licensed brokers or former brokers – someone who has had some proper training and experience to get right answers and knows the short cuts to get things fixed. Three FTEs can handle this in a small company like Panther; FedEx may require 5 to 7 FTEs would be the minimal. So what that they would be sitting a little, I think that the work load could be balanced the foreign shipments with other non-critical work to justify the small cost of employing them.

The other thing is to have everything faxed to the company and the company go through the entire process of faxing it to the broker, do the follow up and to ensure that the driver is cleared to go with one person and only one handing this. There have been times where I requested the company to check on the status of the paper work only to be ignored or get three people answering my inquiry. I think that having the company do some of the work would not cause me to wait three hours only to find out that I need to go to the broker to watch them sit in front of their computer, finish everything in 2 minutes and walk out with the customs clearance numbers to get into the states.

There are very few companies (actually two) that can handle the entire process, from pickup to clearing it through customs and delivering it. These are UPS and FedEx, which brings up something that bothers me with FedEx. It is that Custom Critical and Trade Network should work together to get the stuff cleared. I think that this would be a great revenue generator; exclusive door to door service with customs services, FedEx are you listening?

[redhotxpress]

"It is the resposibility of the driver to do the job and know the job.

we do the job and know the job and still have to wait for hours, as do many other drivers i've spoken with, for the ACE load to clear. that specific problem isn't with dispatch, it is with the ACE system.
I find dispatchers try their best to be helpful and answer a question but often if they are new they just haven't had that question before. before ACE, however, we had problems such as being told the wrong broker and paperwork at the shipper not being exactly what it needed to be. very seldom have i had a situation that i couldn't straighten out myself, as was said, experience is the teacher, but when i have, it's very frustrating if you have to go through a number of different people to try to get the problem resolved. i believe part of this is due to turnover in dispatch and not being able to get back to the same person if you need to call back. Dave F. mentioned to us once that they were working on having a group of people (team) to handle canandian issues. i myself think that would be workable, after all they have NLM and they handle their load issues. i am in hopes that evenutally the ACE and other border crossing issues will go easy, but about that time then some new system will be established.

[slfisher45]

"But, to sort of answer your question, depending on crossing volumes, somewhere between one and three on a given shift should be plenty. Most of the time they wouldn't be doing anything any differently than regular dispatch, merely monitoring the progress of the run. So a single person could handle many loads at the same time."

You were advocating DEDICATED BC dispatchers. In the prior quote you are now talking about dispatchers MULTI-TASKING.
Big difference....

Done with this rubber ball thread.

[Turtle]

"But, to sort of answer your question, depending on crossing volumes, somewhere between one and three on a given shift should be plenty. Most of the time they wouldn't be doing anything any differently than regular dispatch, merely monitoring the progress of the run. So a single person could handle many loads at the same time."

"You were advocating DEDICATED BC dispatchers. In the prior quote you are now talking about dispatchers MULTI-TASKING.
Big difference...."

Nope. Multi=tasking only in the sense that they could handle multiple border crossing loads. The Border Crossing Team would not handle non-crossing loads. They'd be doing the same as regular dispatch, but doing it solely with border loads.


"Done with this rubber ball thread."

And after all this without explaining how it would be cost-prohibitive and counter-productive? I'm shocked. ;-)

[highway star]

I think some multi-tasking would probably occur in the interest of keeping everyone busy and helping things run smoothly in general. But, people with the primary task of border issues absolutely makes sense. I only had a very small handful of problems crossing, but, when I did, guess who I called? To suggest this kind of support isn't necessary is just wrong. Of course, I only have 7 years of frequent border crossing experience to draw from, so maybe I'm all wet.

[BigBuzd1]

I have picked up Hazmat in Windsor and rerouted to Port Huron and Panther has ALWAYS paid the extra mileage and bumped the delivery time. I dont want to use the ferry and it has never been suggested that I do, by panther or by the owner of my truck.
This new ACE program was shaky at 1st, but the last 8 out of 10 Canada to U.S. loads have gone so smoothly it's unreal. I was no more than 5 miles from shipper...200 miles from the border and my QC was beeping asking for my PAPS #. Within 20 to 30 miles after giving them the # we were told not to cross yet...by the time I got within 100 miles of the border I had my entry #.

Hint for drivers using ACE...on the sheet needing your identification #'s and other personal info...keep it and just white-out the pertinent info of the previous load you used it for...it saves you time filling it out and having to get all that info together again and again.
Until this happens...this is from Panthers FAQ section:
ACE is a clearance process that ties the driver, the truck, the customer, Panther and the load to a single clearance number. This is a very labor and data intensive process and any error will result in a driver being held up at the border and fines. To eliminate this we have asked Adminserve, who is simply an administrator of the process for Panther, to build a database of drivers and trucks that have sucessfully cleared using ACE. In a very short period of time we will be able to shorten the fax coversheet to one page for those who have had a sucessful ACE load. Until them they are using subsequent data to validate thier database.

[pelicn]

> In a very short period
>of time we will be able to shorten the fax coversheet to one
>page for those who have had a sucessful ACE load. Until
>them they are using subsequent data to validate thier
>database.

Wonder how many years that will take?:P

[Turtle]

Instead of messing with white out, I just took the pages that require ID numbers and stuff and filled in the required information, and then took those sheets and made copies of them to use. Now, when I pull out the sheets, the only thing I need to fill in for each load is the load-specific information.

[sucbadriver]

1 Panther gets the customs broker info from the customer so if it’s wrong it’s the customer's fault.

2. They are training dispatchers on the ACE system which is a stupid program if you ask me.

3. I run into and back out of Canada weekly I am always routed through Port Huron when I have a hazmat they always pay the miles to run it that way.

4. No matter who you drive for document who tells you anything that has to do with money /name/date/time/amount

5. Why would customs fax anything to a broker when there is a broker's office at every crossing?? If there is a problem you just go to the broker and make them fix it Panther can’t fix it they are not the broker

6. Some US customs officers are making there own rules if you cross through Alexandria Bay you must fill out an inward manifest if your empty no one else has ever made me do that just them.

7. Because I didn’t have one filled out I was x rayed and searched that is a first for me in 1.75 years of crossing the boarder.

8. I have never been held up for more than an hour at the boarder and then its because of a lazy driver on the first leg of the trip that didn’t clear the load and I had to walk it through

[Turtle]

Find some wood. Knock on it. A lot.

First time you're held up at the border, for like, 8 hours, because of something that was out of your control, you'll understand the frustrations that some people have.

[greg334]

sucbadriver said; "8. I have never been held up for more than an hour at the boarder and then its because of a lazy driver on the first leg of the trip that didn’t clear the load and I had to walk it through"

OK I have trouble with this one. The other day I was asked to do this and to make sure it was clear. I told dispatch that the other driver is responsible to ensure that the load is clear, I will fax it as a courtisy and make sure that it is received but I am not going across the border, they are andthey need to make sure that everything is in order.

Am I lazy? NO, I am not responsible at all for customs clearence of things I will not bring through the border on my truck. I would think that the other driver is not doing their job by making sure things are done properly and following up.

[highway star]

I agree. He should definately knock on wood. Customs officers don't make their own rules, although their training is not always as current as it should be. The mt manifest thing is being phased in, it's not required at all crossings yet. Also, customs doesn't fax things to the broker. The paperwork is faxed to the broker. They process it and enter it into the computer where it is reviewed and accepted by customs.

It is the responsibility of the driver to make sure the invoice contains all the needed info. Shipper, consignee, description, country of origin, ect. The driver can't be responsible for the accuracy of all of that info. One of my customs snafus was when customs questioned the value of some proto-type parts. It was a 3 hour delay, certainly could have been worse. A driver should never show up at the border with an invoice that's missing value, country of origin, or other basic info. That's either a new driver that's been poorly trained, or someone that just didn't take 10 seconds to review the paperwork. It's also a good reason to have people in the office helping out. It's very common to find out that people who complain about things that happen at the border could have prevented the problems before they happened.

[RobA]

If you get held at the border for 8 hours; there is something definitely wrong.
I'm not denying that it never happens; but I hope it would be rare!
I'm refering to coming to Canada with that statement.
Some Canadian carriers; not specifically expediters though; do have someone in the office who ensures all entries have been made and are accepted before the driver gets to the border. If there are issues the driver waits until they are sorted out.
I agree that the Sarnia - Port Huron crossing is better than the ferry for HazMat; unless you are local and know all the ropes.






>"I have never been held up for more than an hour at the
>boarder..."
>
>Find some wood. Knock on it. A lot.
>
>First time you're held up at the border, for like, 8 hours,
>because of something that was out of your control, you'll
>understand the frustrations that some people have.

[Turtle]

Greg, as for the first leg driver faxing paperwork and making sure everything was received, and then cleared...

The bottom line problem is, there are too many drivers who will not (or cannot) go to Canada, but they will gladly pick up a load going to Canada, not mess with the paperwork (cause it doesn't affect them) and then drive 400-500 miles and swap it out in Detroit, leaving the 2nd leg driver to have to mess with faxing the stuff from a truckstop or something, and then having to sit there and wait 2 hours or more for it all to clear, and then proceed the final 75 miles to the consignee.

Agreed that it's the driver crossing the border's butt on the line, so they must double check everything. But if the 1st leg driver is willing to take most of the miles and the money for the load, without having to deal with the hassles of crossing the border, the least he/she/it can do is deal with the hassles of doing the paperwork.

The sooner the paperwork is faxed the better, so it only makes sense to have it faxed from the shipper, especially since they are likely experienced with border-crossing shipments. Any problems that do come up will come up sooner, and can be handled sooner.

I picked up a second leg once in Detroit, and not only had none of the paperwork been faxed, there wasn't even a customs invoice. First leg driver, he didn't care, figured I'd deal with it. Turns out it was an electronic invoice that was to be sent by a 3rd party once they were notified by the broker that they had received all of the other paperwork by fax. I took the load at 8PM and that 3rd party's office hours were 7AM-6PM.

I sat there for 11 hours, paid $11 in fax and copy charges, $8 in phone charges, then sat 2 more hours waiting for it to clear, and got squat for detention. Then drove the 74 miles to the consignee so I could get my $60 or whatever it was the load paid.

Just as an example :7