Border Security Stalls Canadian Truckers
Canadian truckers are bearing the brunt of increased U.S.-Canada border security put in place after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, according to a new report released by Transport Canada.
The post 9/11 financial impact on the Canadian transportation sector is between $312 and $544 million, and the trucking industry has absorbed 80 percent of that cost, according to the study.
“No equivalent magnitude of delay-impacts were observed for any other modes [of transport],” the report concludes, according to the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail.
Trackers are just part of a Canadian – and American – workforce that has seen profits dwindle as a result of increased border fees and tighter security, which has slowed cross border traffic. Two-hour delays to truckers crossing into the United States are not uncommon.
About 86 percent of the post 9/11 economic burden comes from increased U.S. anti-terror measure, according to the report, while only 14 percent derives from Canadian measures.
The tightening of the border has begun to force Canadian firms to rethink the way they do business, and an increasing number of companies are starting to shift production inside the United States, according to The Globe and Mail.
And while the Canadian government has recently made efforts to approve reconstruction of the Ambassador Bridge – it links Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan – Canadians realize it’s just a start to alleviating border congestion. A loftier goal, The Globe and Mail notes, is to help change U.S. mentality towards cross-border policy.
