Background: Transport Canada is currently consulting the trading community (international & domestic air shippers) with respect to recommendations for a comprehensive Air Cargo Security Program. The objective of the proposed program is to mitigate the risks associated with air cargo, while at the same time ensuring the efficient flow of goods domestically and internationally.

Transport Canada's proposals for securing the supply chain are consistent with programs that have been or are being developed in other countries, such as the United States and in Europe, and are at the forefront of what can be expected for other modes of transportation in the future. They will have significant implications not only for carriers, but shippers as well.

Proposals include concepts such as all cargo transported on passenger aircraft will have to be from a “known shipper,” be certified by the shipper as “known cargo,” and only pass through a “regulated agent;” otherwise the cargo will be subject to targeting. Qualifying as a “known shipper” or in this case a “regulated agent” will, among other things, involve satisfying prescribed security requirements.

Result: As a result of many meetings, the CCLA was able to provide meaningful input to the development of security policy through producing a brief for key transport and security policymakers, intended toward working in tandem with Transport Canada in consultation to effect positive changes to our present security regime.

Member Benefit: CCLA aims to ensure that the system is effective, promotes a level playing field, balances economic realities and is respected and maintainable. Viable policy should encourage individual companies to augment their security performance based on clear benefits realized.

Background: On January 31, 2006; City of Toronto Councillor, Michael Walker, proposed that city council adopt a ban on truck deliveries in the downtown core between peak traffic flow hours. This proposal took the form of a Notice of Motion to Toronto City Council in the guise as an answer to curbing gridlock in Toronto

Under the ban, trucks would be restricted from making deliveries on weekdays from 7 a.m.-10 a.m. and 3 p.m.-6 p.m. The restriction would cover the downtown core from Spadina Ave. in the west to Jarvis St. in the east, and from the lakeshore north to Bloor St.

Toronto council referred the issue to the Works Committee for consideration. This body comprised of 7 Toronto city councillors meets monthly to review policy and operating matters under their jurisdiction and their recommendations are then submitted to the council for consideration. CCLA forwarded a formal letter to the committee chairs as well as Mayor David Miller as a pre-requisite to the meeting to ensure our concerns were documented. CCLA along with the OTA and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors were present during the session to give deputations against proceeding with this motion.

The Members of the Works Committee 'received' the motion, meaning it went no further. CCLA in conjunction with other trade bodies and commerce stakeholders recommended the City and Province move ahead with establishing a Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA) for the GTA and Hamilton region that would work towards solving gridlock and enhance quality of life in the area.

Result: Proposed legislation pertaining to this damaging direction was repealed before being passed into law.

Member Benefit: Legislation of this type could have had a significant impact on the entire time-sensitive delivery industry, calling into question the very ability to provide service to customers. Restrictions placed on supply lines for business and residents would be damaging under such a ban; if implemented would drive up shipping costs as firms would have to increase capacity and infrastructure to deliver outside of peak hours.

The general consensus among all parties is that traffic gridlock is an economic and environmental problem for Toronto. This congestion is not limited to the downtown core; it is a problem across the entire Greater Toronto Area compounded by the heavy use of our transportation infrastructure by a myriad of different types of vehicles and drivers.

The major contributors to congestion are not delivery vehicles - it is cars, many of which are occupied by a sole person. With investments in transit, designed to get people out of their cars, other options exist for most motorists. Delivery vehicles dictated by the size and scope of the deliveries themselves do not have the luxury of alternative options. Restricting truck traffic hinders the commercial viability of downtown businesses and would impact personal activity without addressing the real causes of gridlock

Background: Risk Management has become a priority focus for Customs agencies globally. Balancing the call for efficient commercial transactions against security needs brings about significant challenges. The introduction of ACI (Advance Commercial Information) is a border program designed to allow commercial and government organizations grapple with the security and trade corundum.

ACI utilizes mandatory electronic pre-arrival datasets required at first point of arrival for each shipment to support targeting, including pre-arrival admissibility info. ACI is the largest and most expensive project of its kind in relation to the border in recent memory; touching every transportation mode and imported good to Canada. It carries with it onerous requirements and potentially damaging results for trade if not managed effectively.

Result: CCLA fundamentally supported CBSA in its efforts to ensure Customs compliance and managing the risks associated with international commerce. To date CCLA Customs committee members have made great strides to collaborate and consult with CBSA officials in helping design trade programs that work and straddle the expanse between security and trade.

Member Benefit: As a result of literally dozens of meetings, position papers and proposal recommendations, the CCLA was able to provide meaningful input to the development of the final versions of ACI policy. Of prime importance is the practice of promoting and finding effective solutions between the Government's regulatory mechanisms and the private sector's true operational realities. Under the CCLA’s sub-committee we discussed at length the implications of what CBSA was considering under ACI in fairness to the overall Canadian transportation and import sector; here is what we were able to influence:

Phased Implementation
CBSA listened to our concerns for a postponement of implementation until after the busy holiday season to stay clear of peak volumes and had made allowances for phasing in the ACI implementation. Rather than a “Big Bang” implementation date on Dec 12, 2005 there was a phased implementation “window “introduced until June 26, 2006.

First Point of Arrival (FPOA) Border Exam Policy
CCLA’s proposal, which balances the need for security while expediting trade, called for a strategy of keeping the FPOA primary focus on health, safety and security threats. Holds/exams at the entry point should only be for national security reasons

ECU Outage & Extension
CBSA’s Electronic Commerce Unit (ECU) experienced a 2 week outage which shut down the ACI test environment April 30 to May 11 preventing some carriers from testing and thus, from becoming compliant in accordance with the June 26th deadline. As a result, CBSA permitted a one month grace period to all carriers and extended the date to July 26th 2006.

ACI AMPS Penalties
CCLA has been quite vocal about the proposed AMPS penalties for ACI being damaging to trade. Our submissions on this subject have attracted media attention as well as to upper CBSA levels. As a result CCLA has negotiated a 12 month grace period before they apply; AMPS will now come into effect for complaint carriers June 26th 2007; this effectively gives us 12 months to consult further on this front.

Operational details concerning ACI rollout
CCLA was able to negotiate and define as best as possible ACI transitional period operational details to prevent chaos.

Exception Reporting
CCLA has made it clear that the exception reporting process (overages, shortages, splits) are an operational reality with minimal security risk. CBSA now understands exceptions and the importance of the Post Audit Carrier reporting process and that an electronic reporting mechanism must be built.

Contingency Plans
A sub-committee under ACI of which CCLA is a member is currently exploring various contingency options with CBSA in the case of power outages, systems disruptions, etc. Work is still on-going in this area but once agreement is finally reached, it is expected that contingency procedures will be announced some time soon.

Background: In an era of seamless global supply chains, our success in international commerce depends more than ever on efficient transportation systems and trade promotion strategies that build on our advantages in geography and transportation. Our challenge in the Southern Ontario region; and as a country; is to focus on issues of improved efficiency of the whole transportation system, new infrastructure projects and closely related security, trade, investment and environmental issues

Freight traffic through and within our region will grow by more than 40% by 2020. During the same period we will add 2 and a half million people to our population. Integrated transportation planning both with regard to public transit and the movement of goods and services is crucial.

Enter the Southern Ontario Gateway Council (SOGC); which is a relatively new organization that brings together most of the major transportation stakeholders in the Southern Ontario Region including CCLA. SOGC is unique in that for the first time it beings together all levels of government, most of the major transportation providers and other key transportation stakeholders in an advisory organization whose goal is to ensure that transportation planning in Southern Ontario is multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional in its approach.

Result: Transportation planning has historically been very compartmentalized in Canada. Highways are a provincial responsibility, local roads a municipal responsibility (there are 25 municipal jurisdictions in the GTA alone), rail, marine and air have been traditionally regarded as federal issues. Similarly there has been very little planning and collaboration taking into account the different modes of transportation: road, air, rail and marine. The various modes have tended to address their issues in isolation from the other modes and hence opportunities have been missed.

SOGC is currently working to change this environment. A key element of this initiative is to identify a list of critical infrastructure projects required in Southern Ontario to improve the movement of commercial goods and people to, from and within the region.

Member Benefit: SOGC will become a valuable resource in ensuring that transportation policy and planning in Southern Ontario proceeds in a manner that capitalizes on the strengths of the existing transportation network, enhances multi-modalism and is strategic in its approach to expansion to the system. The goal is to promote and preserve the economic competitiveness of the Southern Ontario Gateway in the global economy and to provide advocacy and research that will ensure that whatever transportation solution is in front of us; it is the best possible solution for the region from the standpoint of economics and multi modal adaptability and benefits. SOGC’s strategic planning includes on-going prioritization of a listing of critical infrastructure projects in Southern Ontario.

Background: CCLA provided comment regarding a matter under consideration in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) negotiations on trade facilitation that is of great importance to express delivery companies: the removal (worldwide) of upper limits on the weight, size, and value of express shipments.

The character of international trade has changed greatly over the last decade, in part because of trade liberalization accomplished by WTO members in the Uruguay Round. Removal of trade barriers has opened new markets for exporters and new options for supplying manufacturing operations. One of the consequences for express delivery companies has been in all parts of the world a strong and steady increase in the percentage of shipments we carry that are merchandise rather than documents. We believe that this reflects a successful effort by enterprising traders to find and serve customers over a much wider area than was previously considered possible.

Result: CCLA detailed in a letter to the WTO a summary of the reasons for removal of these limits. A proposal that includes removal of limits has already been introduced in the WTO trade facilitation negotiations. CCLA within the letter urges our government to support complete removal of size and value limits in the final agreement on trade facilitation; a subject of the WTO negotiations.

Member Benefit: In spite of the trend towards freer worldwide trade, certain WTO member countries are to some extent outside this inclination owing to limitations imposed by their customs administrations on the size or value of shipments that may be processed under expedited procedures. These limits can prevent exporters in other countries such as Canada, from competing effectively in the markets where limits are maintained and translates to less business and restrictions on the goods that Canadian express companies can ship to certain countries.

The trend toward global markets for all goods - ranging from sophisticated electronic articles through high-fashion apparel to valuable, highly-perishable foodstuffs - has created a need for very rapid, highly secure delivery. Placing arbitrary limits on the ability of express delivery companies to serve customers and the countries in which they live serves no evident useful purpose, and could have significant adverse consequences.

The global economy continues to change in ways that we cannot always foresee, but the need for rapid and reliable logistics is certain to be a part of the economy of the future for all destinations.

Background: The Ontario Government announced that effective January 1, 2006, the Truck Transportation Act (TTA) and economic regulation of the trucking industry will no longer exist. Under the legislation repealing the TTA certain critical parts of the TTA have been transferred to the Highway Traffic Act (HTA).

With respect to the trust fund requirements in the load broker regulations, the repeal of the TTA eliminates all of the regulations applicable to load broker activities, except the provision which requires that load brokers retain carrier funds received from the consignor or consignee in a trust account. Other aspects transferred to the HTA include the cargo insurance and contract of carriage provisions.

Result: The repeal of the TTA eliminates the carrier operating licence requirement, and henceforth the safety based Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration (CVOR) system will be the only operating certificate required for trucking companies based in Ontario. More info can be sourced at: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks/cvor/

Member Benefit: The existence of such a trust account provision remains a crucial element in protecting the ability of carriers to ensure that they are paid for their services in the event of bankruptcy by the broker. Without the trust account provisions, carriers would have a much harder time being paid for work that had been done.

Carriers who broker freight should also note that the trust account provisions will now apply to everyone who brokers freight, including carriers who broker loads to other carriers and effective January 1, 2006, they will also need to comply with the new HTA provisions and ensure that funds received for work that is brokered out are placed in a trust account.

Background: The Township of Vaughan (Ontario) attempted to introduce legislation that would have resulted in courier companies having to purchase a municipal operating license. If passed, this legislation could have served as a precedent for municipalities across the country.

Result: Legislation in Vaughan was repealed. This was also directly responsible for the elimination of the City of Toronto Cartage License requirement that had been in place for years.

Member Benefit: Savings of literally millions of dollars in direct expense (operating licenses) and impediments to operations. For example, the previously mentioned City of Toronto Cartage License fees were $150 per vehicle and $50 per driver.

Background: The WSIB adopted a practice where courier companies were required to pay back-premiums for any individuals deemed to be independent operators (by the WSIB), but for whom their “worker status determination form" was not submitted in the past. The CCLA provided feedback and submissions to the WSIB calling for an end to this practice. The CCLA’s efforts to champion this issue began in August 1999, and drew to a successful close in July 2001.

Result: For companies confident of the independent status of workers whose services were used during previous years this equated to complete amnesty in terms of premiums, interest and penalties to be paid. This made sense, as the only omission was failure to file the proper WSIB form to properly classify I/O’s. Previous to these developments the WSIB would assess premiums for the present year +2 years backwards from the date of WSIB I/O determination as penance for failure to submit the form. This is a major win for CCLA members in producing the desired end result of gaining proper registration without financial burden.

Member Benefit: Extremely good deal for those businesses that have exposure with the WSIB. The limiting of back premium exposure for already registered companies, providing they utilize bona fide I/O’s was a reversal of previous WSIB policy which back assessed regardless of their own I/O status classification. This practice was counterproductive, costly to our industry and impeded the goal of achieving a compliant marketplace.

Background: As an adjunct to Achievement #4, the WSIB had proposed implementing a regime whereby non-registered firms and/or those who were out of compliance with Provincial Workplace legislation would be vulnerable to tremendous burdensome financial exposure, as well as criminal charges.

Result: Due to the CCLA’s feedback, consultations and submissions regarding the worker status determination issue, a joint Voluntary Registration Program (VRP) was developed in conjunction with the WSIB to maximize the number of firms that were registered. The VRP was a time-limited opportunity for businesses not registered with the WSIB to do so with minimal cost, and without fines, prosecution or interest.

Member Benefit: This was a benefit for those unregistered businesses that had exposure with the WSIB. The opportunity to properly register with WSIB was a relief for those member firms who were in the predicament of not exercising the proper “due diligence”. The VRP established a “relief valve” and furthered the CCLA’s and WSIB’s mutual goal of achieving a compliant industry.

Background: For several years courier companies have relied on the use of independent operators/brokers to provide services and/or cover geographical areas that could not be addressed viably by using internal employees. The Federal and Provincial governments attempted to pass legislation that would have resulted in owner operators being deemed as employees in the early to mid 1990’s. The implications of such a decision would have been extensive, impacting areas such as reporting requirements, benefits and payroll.

Result: The proposal to deem owner operators as employees was eliminated.

Member Benefit: Savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of additional employment related taxes and reporting requirements, plus continued flexibility in addressing unique delivery requirements.

Background: The September 11 tragedy in the U.S. has focused attention on trans-border procedures, security, targeting and overhaul of Customs procedures. During this process the possibility of elimination of the Low Value Shipment (LVS) Program that has streamlined courier Customs clearance for international shipments for over a decade was raised.

Result: Due to the work of the CCLA Customs Committee and their feedback, consultations and submissions, the LVS program was, and continues to remain in place. This included the signing of an official Memorandum of Understanding with the Canada Border Services Agency.

Member Benefit: This was a benefit to all those companies who are involved in sending goods across the border in the sense that operational costs for qualifying shipments continue to be minimized, and service levels for customers are maximized.

Background: In addition to the need for heightened security to protect against terrorist attacks, governments around the world began recognizing in the mid to late 1990’s that a significant amount of contraband goods were flowing across International borders. A number of initiatives were developed to address this issue, but unfortunately, most would have had a significantly negative impact on the effective operations of courier, and various other transportation/logistics firms.

Result: As a result of literally dozens of meetings, position papers and proposal recommendations, the CCLA was able to provide meaningful input to the development of the final versions of various programs including Customs Self Assessment (CSA), Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS), Partners In Protection Memorandum Of Understanding (PIP) and Advanced Commercial Information (ACI), Free And Secure Trade Program (FAST) and Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) to name a few.

Member Benefit: The protocols and procedures enshrined in each of the above programs has at minimum protected the often-times limited profit margins associated with providing non-domestic services, and on a broader scale, ensured the ability to offer such services at all.

Background: Given the myriad of rules, regulations and tests used by various levels of government in determining the degree of independence of workers, the 1990’s saw the difficulty associated with developing effective contract documents that could be used when using the services of independent contractors become increasingly difficult.

Result: The CCLA established a special working committee to develop a guideline document to aid members in developing independent operator contracts that could be used with confidence when dealing with members of this essential workgroup.

Member Benefit: By effectively using the CCLA’s independent contractor contract guidelines document, member firms can save thousands of dollars that may otherwise be associated with employing the services of a legal firm in developing a viable contract document, ease relations and simplify dealings with the various governmental agencies that often perform audits to determine worker status, and perhaps most importantly, gain the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the final contract document that is being used has been developed through the shared wisdom and experience of literally dozens of industry participants.

Background: Given that most courier firms operating in Canada are either privately owned, or subsidiaries of International integrators, the ability of industry participants to gain access to reliable, accurate information about the size of the industry has historically been very limited.

Result: The CCLA responded to this need by working with two separate organizations; Statistics Canada and Infobase Marketing. The consultations with and input provided to Statistics Canada by the CCLA played a major role in the establishment of an Annual Courier Industry Study that began in 1998. For more detailed information, the CCLA also established a relationship with Infobase Marketing, a privately owned, Toronto based strategic marketing consulting firm specializing in the field of Transportation & Logistics. As a result of this relationship, CCLA members became entitled to receive any of the many syndicated reports on the Canadian Courier Industry prepared by Infobase.

Member Benefit: Information is critical to the successful operation of any viable business venture. Thanks to the CCLA’s work with the above organizations, members now have access to a wealth of reliable and valid information about the courier industry in Canada that can be obtained at a fraction of the cost normally associated with conducting formal market research studies.

Background: Driven by growing environmental concerns, several municipalities began searching for ways to reduce traffic in their downtown core areas in the late 1980’s. One piece of legislation that was introduced recommended banning trucks from downtown core areas between the time of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm.

Result: Proposed legislation pertaining to this catastrophic direction was repealed before being passed into law.

Member Benefit: Legislation of this type could have had a significant impact on the entire time-sensitive delivery industry, calling into question the very ability to provide service to customers.

Background: While very large firms in most industry sectors have the negotiating power to establish favorable purchasing agreements for the various supplies and services required to operate, this is often a major challenge for small to mid-sized companies. Since there are over 2,000 courier firms operating in Canada, it was clear that there could be a substantial benefit from pooling the purchasing power of members.

Result: Although the CCLA has had various group buying programs in existence throughout most of its history, a major overhaul of the Association’s group buying programs was conducted in 2001, with the result being the creation of five core programs covering a wide range of areas including gasoline, cellular communications, office supplies, workplace accident insurance and printing.

Member Benefit: Through the CCLA’s various group buying programs, members have an opportunity to realize substantial savings when purchasing the various goods and services required to run their operations.

Background: For most of the time the CCLA has been in existence since 1986, efforts were principally focused on addressing issues using staff and member resources. While this was generally very effective, as global trade has continued to increase, the level of complexity in formulating effective positions and strategies in dealing with industry issues began to require an increasingly global context.

Result: To address this need, the CCLA began working diligently in 1999 to identify and establish meaningful relationships with a number of other global courier Associations and similarly important related organizations. As a result of these efforts, today the CCLA enjoys mutually beneficial relations with several organizations including XLA (Express Delivery & Logistics Association) USA, MCAA (Messenger Courier Association Of The America’s), CLADEC (Conferencia Latino Americana De Companias Express), GEA (Global Express Association), EEA (European Express Association), CAPEC (Conference of Asia Pacific Express Carriers), CIFFA (Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association), CSCB (Canadian Society of Customs Brokers) and BCCC (Border Commercial Consultative Committee) plus many more.

Member Benefit: Maintaining relationships with the above organizations provides CCLA members with indirect access to a wealth of global perspective and information, that can and is ultimately used to develop positions and solutions that are more internationally coordinated and integrated than ever before. For individual companies, this means a maximum level of protection in ensuring operating practices are kept as efficient as possible, costs are minimized and the ability to provide outstanding customer service is maximized.

Background: An interpretation by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) that courier vehicles fall under federal Canada Labour Code legislation - deeming them as “materials handling equipment” - requiring automatic back up alarms was overturned through the appeals process under Part II of the Canada Labour Code.

The issue came to the forefront as a result of two CCLA members being served with warnings and afterward directions that their courier vehicles must comply with this legislation and have automatic alarms.

CCLA and its members debated the interpretation of how Part XIV of the legislation applies to material handling equipment within the federal workplace. This legislation covers the details on design and construction of in-house equipment, such as forklifts and motorized pallet trucks etc. and requires the mandatory usage of “Back up horns/alarms” when these vehicles are backing in the vicinity of employees which have the potential to be in harms way.

Our interpretation throughout the process was that commercial vehicles should not be regulated under Part XIV and not required to have automatic alarms.

This section of the legislation applies specifically to in house forklifts and motorized pallet trucks designed to transport, lift, move or position goods within an integral workplace environment, courier vehicles on the other hand transport goods off premises to customer sites.

Result: The HRDC interpretation requiring courier vehicles to be equipped with back up horns/alarms was repealed due to established courier industry proven procedures/safeguards. Although the HRDC’s interpretation at the time looked grim, discussions managed to extract “Due Diligence” options during the 2 years it took to finalize the decision, which courier companies could explore to safeguard themselves against accident potential, HRDC inspections and related exposure.

Member Benefit: The HRDC’s firm position at the time was that the law must be obeyed and the courier industry must comply. This suggested that our industry would become a potential HRDC target for inspections. Rulings/interpretations of legislation of this type could have had a significant impact on the entire time-sensitive delivery industry, the HRDC direction had the potential to cost couriers hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs related to refitting vehicles.