Written by Kerry Rambalie, Director of Transportation, Canada
It’s a great privilege for me to announce that starting August 3, 2020, we’ll have U.S. drivers and trucks running cross border into Canada!
They will be bringing supplier freight to the Brampton distribution center (DC) and returning to the U.S. with Dot-managed purchase orders (PO). This process will give us greater control over our inventory fulfillment at the DCs and position Dot to be able to flex capacity as volume increases while at the same time managing and controlling cost.
This project has been long in development, and Paul Drabek has put in many hours working on the process and piloting a few loads in 2018. At that time, weekly-managed loads weren’t feasible, but with the growth in Canada, we feel now is the right time to implement full-time Dot Blue managed cross-border freight. A number of individuals have put in a lot of time and effort to make this a reality, and I would like to mention Rich Raham, Andy Turner, Chris Landrum, Sam Schindler, JB Harrington, and Lindsay Boyd for their commitment to making this a reality.
There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, which includes vetting drivers, finalizing the customs broker (Courtney) process, and applying and being approved under Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). C-TPAT and Free and Secure Trade (FAST), will allow a smoother border clearance process and minimize the chances of inspections and delays at the border. We’ll also have a pool of 2019 and newer trailers at the Brampton DC to facilitate supplier pickups in Ontario and use exclusively for the transborder runs.
I look forward to reporting on the success of this project in the coming months, and how it sets up Canada operations for future growth.