Susan Albrecht

Service Time Variability at Blaine, Washington, Border Crossing and Impact on Regional Supply Chains

Variable service times at vehicle processing facilities (borders, weigh stations, landside marine port gates) cause transportation planning challenges for companies that regularly visit them. Companies must either build more time into their schedules than is necessary, and therefore underutilize their equipment, or risk missing delivery windows or exceeding hours of service regulations, actions that can result in fines, lost business opportunities, or other logistical costs. Border crossing times are examined at Blaine, Washington, between Whatcom County, Washington, and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, to assess the variability in crossing times at this border crossing and the impact of this variability on regional supply chains. Variability data collected for bidirectional trade are presented. Directional, daily, hourly, and seasonal variations are examined, and interviews are conducted with regional carriers to better understand the current response to variability, the benefit of a reduction in variability, and how that is related to the goods moved or to other business operating characteristics. This paper describes the level of variability in border crossing times and carriers’ responses to this variability and shows that the primary strategy used, increasing buffer times, reduces carrier productivity. However, this cost is negligible because of the current nature of the industry.

A Description of Commercial Cross Border Trips in the Cascade Gateway and Trade Corridor

Abstract This paper describes commercial vehicle delay, transportation patterns and the commodity profile at the Western Cascade Gateway, the main border crossing between Southwest British Columbia, Canada, and Northwestern Washington, United States. Using five data sources for comparison—a probe vehicle border crossing time data set, a detailed border operations survey data set, loop detector volume counts, manifest sampling, and data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the transportation, trade, and delay patterns can be synthesized to provide a more complete description of regional freight transportation. This context can be used to consider the impact delay has on regional supply chains, and in developing appropriate freight transportation policy solutions for the border.

Free and Secure Trade Commercial Vehicle Crossing Times at the Pacific Highway Port of Entry

At the Pacific Highway port of entry between the United States and Canada, typical delays are known to regional carriers and internalized into schedules. Due to their relative infrequency, the largest crossing times are not internalized into schedules and cause significant disruptions to regional supply chains. This technical note describes the recent patterns of very long crossing times (defined as more than 2 h or the largest 1% of crossing times) and explores the relationship between arrival volume and crossing time. To do so, this study uses commercial vehicle crossing time data from GPS technology and volume data from the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation. Results show a weak correlation between border crossing time and arrival volume when considering individual observations, but a stronger correlation when data are aggregated. Results show a high percentage of crossing time can be attributed to sources other than primary booth delay, particularly for the most disruptive, very long crossing times.

Canada's Port of Prince Rupert as a successful national gateway strategy

Abstract In this paper we examine the Port of Prince Rupert as a case study of the Canadian Gateway strategy. We consider the effect of the Gateway strategy on the development of a container terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, and Prince Ruperts effect on discretionary cargo at west coast ports in North America. Canadas Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative was developed specifically to increase trade between Canada and the Asia-Pacific region. The initiative, coupled with a national freight transportation policy framework, commits investments to a long term plan for infrastructure. Through this integrative policy and public-private collaboration, the container terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert has grown and a new route for Asia-North America trade has developed. The port presents a novel concept for North American ports by locating outside of an existing urban center, and focusing on through, rather than local, traffic. However, through a logistical analysis of market sizes and likely importers, we demonstrate that the new container terminal at Prince Rupert will not likely cause a dramatic shift in cargo flows on the West Coast.