The Canadian – U.S. border closure will become effective tonight at midnight for all non-essential travel, but cross-border trade will continue and operators of vehicles in all modes will be able to continue to cross – air, ship, rail, and truck. At this time (evening March 20), the government’s written directive on administering the closure has not been published on the government website. Once available we will forward to FMA members. The Public Safety Minister’s message on the closure can be found at:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/news/2020/03/us-canada-joint-initiative-temporary-restriction-of-travelers-crossing-the-us-canada-border-for-non-essential-purposes.html
Regarding Canadian air cargo, Cargojet has announced plans to increase its services, particularly in Canada. The cargo airline notes that with the reduction in airline passenger services, the cargo capacity on passenger planes has been reduced. They are particularly stepping up service to northern communities. The details can be found at
https://www.insidelogistics.ca/covid-19/cargojet-ramps-up-service-for-pandemic-supply-158525/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newcom&utm_campaign=MMandD&utm_content=20200319201339
Air Canada has announced a significant reduction in services, both international and domestic and details can be found by clicking on the first red bar below.
With regard to trucking, we understand that the limited exemption from Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations for interprovincial trucking are under consideration by Transport Canada and an announcement is expected from Transport Canada within the next few days.
CN and CP report that their operations remain fluid in both Canada and the US and that they have been in touch with authorities on both sides of the border to ensure that the cross-border operations continue without interruption when the border closure is implemented tonight.
On Tuesday, we raised the possibility of asking the various provinces to waive the load restrictions due to spring thaw. This would provide some additional trucking capacity. FMA raised this with the major trucking industry associations and will keep the membership informed on the trucking industry feedback.
Our focus in the FMA updates will be on supply-chain impacts. In this connection, it would be appreciated if FMA members could keep us informed of impacts on your respective operations, particularly any supply chain disruptions. This will be helpful in our continuing outreach to members and our communications with the government and with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. As always, all individual company information will be kept confidential.
