The American Transportation Research Institute on Friday, March 30, released research findings from an assessment of the Automated Commercial Environment Truck e-Manifest’s impact on international trucking operations.
The ACE Truck e-Manifest – a trucking-specific interface of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s ACE electronic transaction system – is intended to address the need to facilitate international commerce while securing U.S. borders. Through use of this system, motor carriers are able to submit electronic versions of mandated paperwork in advance of a truck’s arrival at the border.
Survey and interview research conducted by ATRI revealed that physically crossing an international border into the United States is smoother when employing the ACE Truck e-Manifest, but start-up labor and equipment costs must be accommodated. Although these initial start-up costs are considerable for some carriers, the research shows that the ACE Truck e-Manifest has the potential to provide net operational benefits for medium and large carriers.
Also revealed in the ATRI report is that the number of trips where a driver is directed to secondary inspection have decreased; at the same time, however, the number of actual post-secondary inspections has increased. This appears to validate improved targeting of vehicles that fit certain inspection criteria.
To view the research summary and order a copy of the full report, click here. ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization.
