Making The Border Disappear

If you rely on international inventory, chances are the Canada-U.S. border closure has had a significant impact on your business and supply chain. What was a relatively predictable and timely cross-border shipment process is now incredibly nuanced and, with the recent news that the border will remain closed until at least July 21, 2020, the idea of simply ‘making the border disappear’ has never been more necessary for the country’s businesses.

But there are some things you can do to adapt your operations in the meantime, work around longer delays in shipping and logistics, and ultimately minimize the impact on your people, customers, and bottom line.

Streamline your freight operations

Particularly now, it’s a good time to re-evaluate what your freight operations look like. Are there any opportunities to streamline existing processes to speed up shipping times and keep your business running smoothly?

A great place to start is with your expenses - figure out what is and isn’t an essential cost. Especially during this period of economic uncertainty, getting rid of any extra and unnecessary costs can help you stretch your dollars. Consolidating shipping - where you combine multiple LTL (less than truckload) shipments into a single shipment - is an easy way to reduce logistics costs, not to mention improving quality control and reducing damage risk.

Another more commonly used option is door-to-door shipping. This puts the entire transport process in the hands of your carrier (including shipping, handling, import and customs duties) and means you can focus on running your business instead of whether or not your shipment will arrive on time.

Stay up to date on required documentation

The trade agreements and guidelines governing what can and cannot be transported internationally are constantly changing. As a business owner, it isn’t expected that you memorize every law and regulation but, for example, if you're paying duty on your products, you have to ask yourself, “Should I be?” There are ways to avoid duty by using a different tariff or even shipping directly to your country rather than through another country. But to get to that information requires a certain degree of self-advocacy on the part of your business.

Even in the absence of the pandemic or border closure, one of the main reasons for delayed cross-border shipments is unclear or incomplete documentation. When filling out and submitting these forms, it’s in your best interest to make sure that all of the details required are clearly laid out with no information gaps. Otherwise, you might be subject to verification checks, which will delay the process even more. If you’ve got lingering questions about Canadian customs invoices, watch this video.

Consider if you’re being charged competitively

Shipment volumes have been and will continue to be impacted by the border closure, leaving many businesses to bore the brunt of the economic burden. How your customs broker responds right now is especially telling and will show you how far they’re willing to go to support your business and its bottom line.

When choosing your preferred customs broker, you’re likely going to consider the quality of service they provide. Are they reliable? What’s their ability to problem-solve and troubleshoot? How efficient and accessible is their customer service? But it’s also important to think about how their services are priced, and how that pricing stacks up against their competition. 

Another thing to think about when it comes to pricing is how tech-savvy your preferred customs broker is because their use of innovative, digital solutions will influence the price you pay as a business client. How digitized is the supply chain? Do they use digital platforms for cross-border documentation, payments, and purchases? The upside of supply chain digitization is that business owners, like yourself, end up experiencing a higher level of service. All aspects of the supply chain operations become more efficient and resilient, which can mean increased revenue (and market valuation) for your business.