A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT CUSTOMS INSPECTIONS

You can be forgiven if your palms start to sweat at the thought of your muchneeded product or supplies navigating the border. Ultimately, points out Jerry Aaron, Director, Global North America for ODFL, when crossing the border, “we’re at the mercy of both Canada Customs and the U.S. Border Service.” They can pull a truck over and ask to examine any shipment. “Sometimes they just look at the cargo right on the truck,” says Aaron. “Sometimes they open a box and take one item out to make sure it is what it’s supposed to be. And sometimes they take a whole skid.” Unfortunately, you (the shipper) have to pay the price for those cargo exams. But although any load can be targeted for inspection, there are a few things that act as red flags.

Newbies beware: If you’re a firsttime importer/exporter, your initial few shipments may well be flagged in order to make sure “the paperwork matches up with what is actually being shipped,” points out Aaron. It’s important to get it right the first time, because if you’ve had marking or labelling issues in the past, you may well be singled out for a second look next time round.

“On our website, we have instructions to complete a bill of lading as well as all the documentation for inbound and outbound freight in fill-and-print forms,” says Valerie Speck, Canadian Sales Manager for ODFL. “There’s also a checklist so customers can view the requirements.” Get a second pair of eyes on

the paperwork: Opting for a carrier that offers a Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) and a Pre-arrival Processing System (PAPS) can help you nip problems in the bud, says Speck. Here’s how it works: Your freight carrier picks up your order, along with the paperwork, from your vendor in, for instance, Dallas. When the shipment arrives at the nearest service centre (where it will be combined with other freight travelling to your destination), the paperwork is scanned and sent to the Old Dominion customs compliance department.

“If something doesn’t look right, we contact the shipper to deal with that immediately,” says Jerry Aaron. Once those problems have been remedied, Old Dominion affixes a PARS sticker to the commercial documents and forwards them digitally to the customs broker so they too can be prepared. “The shipment might take three days to get there. And in the meantime, the customs broker has two days to do their part,” says Aaron. “We’re a step ahead of that freight all the way. We make sure that a whole load isn’t held up because one skid of items doesn’t have the required paperwork.”