New NEXUS lane now open at Abbotsford-Huntingdon border crossing

Abbotsford, British Columbia, July 25, 2012 — The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) today announced that NEXUS members can now enjoy crossing simply and smoothly into Canada at a new NEXUS lane at the Abbotsford-Huntingdon, British Columbia and Sumas, Washington border crossing. The lane is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days a week for entry into Canada.

NEXUS members must show their membership cards upon arrival at the border until electronic card readers are installed later in the year. The CBSA decided to open the lane before it is fully functional given the enormous popularity of the NEXUS program, particularly in British Columbia. This opening allows NEXUS members the benefit of entering both Canada and the U.S. at this crossing.  

"This new NEXUS lane means a smoother crossing for pre-approved, low-risk travellers in British Columbia just in time for the long weekend in August," said the Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. "It's another example of how Canada is working to improve the flow of legitimate travel and trade across our shared border."

The addition of the new NEXUS lane is part of a number of enhancements that Canada and the United States are making to the NEXUS program as part of the Canada/U.S. Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness. These Action Plan achievements include:

• starting enrolment blitzes to assist with increasing application volumes;
• streamlining the membership renewal process;
• launching an outreach and awareness plan to increase membership; and
• lifting the three-year residency requirement in Canada for Canadian and American citizens to apply to NEXUS.

Currently there are over 700,000 NEXUS members who expedite their travel across the Canada-U.S. border at designated air, land and marine locations.

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For more information on NEXUS, go to www.nexus.gc.ca.

For more information on the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, please visit the Web site www.borderactionplan.gc.ca.

Follow the Canada Border Services Agency (@CanBorder) and Public Safety Canada (@Safety_Canada) on Twitter.

For further information:

Media Relations
Canada Border Services Agency
613-957-6500

Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657

Every January in Britain, the rail companies put up some of their fares.  And every January in Britain this leads to outrage.

Which is odd, because most other businesses are constantly changing their prices but we don’t get anything like the fuss when they happen to put some of those prices up.

The reason, of course, is government.  In Britain the government regulates a certain number of fares, usually on the busy London commuter routes.  Or, to put it another way, in Britain the government uses violence and the threat of violence to regulate fares.  It is in January that the government allows rail companies to increase their fares in line with inflation plus or minus a small percentage.

Not only is this practice wrong but it also distorts the market leading to overcrowding (see A generic piece on overcrowding).  It also deprives rail companies of the sort of price signals they need to run their businesses successfully.  Because they don’t know how much people are genuinely prepared to pay for a seat, against how much they are prepared to pay to stand, companies don’t know what sort of mix of seating and standing they should be providing.  Nor do they know how many trains they should run and whether increasing the number of trains would justify the cost of, for instance, new signalling. 

Worse still, while allowing rail companies to charge something nearer the market rate is a step in the right direction so long as regulation and the threat of regulation exists, companies are unable to plan for the future.

So, you would allow train companies to charge whatever they like? 
Yes.

But wouldn’t they charge the earth?  And when they do wouldn’t that mean that lots of people could no longer afford to get to work and end up unemployed? 
What we have here is a conflict between the short term and the long term.  The advantages of market prices will for the most part only be seen in the long-term while the disadvantages (higher prices) will be seen almost instantly. 

One of the sad things is that we don’t know how severe the short term pain is likely to be.  It might indeed lead to the doomsday scenario but equally other things might happen.  For instance, in many cases employers may find that they don’t need all their employees to show up on the dot at 9 o’clock in the morning.  So, it may be possible for many of them to travel off-peak.  Equally, many rail companies may take the view that the profit-maximizing price isn’t that much higher than it is at the moment or that a better way to gain goodwill would be to approach it at only a slow pace, say 20% a year or so.

What sort of long-term gain do you see? 
It is difficult to gaze into the future.  That’s one of the weaknesses being in favour of freedom.  You can’t predict with any certainty what will happen.  For instance, it may be the case that something comes along which replaces railways for good.

I could speculate on rail companies running longer trains or double-deck trains or having different classes of carriage: guaranteed seat, standing-room only etc or introducing seats that are locked out of use at peak hours, but I really have no idea what would happen.  All I can be sure about is that it is likely to be a lot better than the situation that we have at the moment.

Notes for the next version

“Outrage”.  We need a better explanation as to why.  I think a lot of it is to do with fear: “I’ve got my job, bought my house and if the fares go up too much one of them is going to have to go.  Hey, I could even end up destitute.” Hmm, actually that’s the fear of fare freedom.  The outrage at a rise is different.

We need something on the history of this.  Before 1940 there was almost no fare regulation at all.  Things seemed to work fine.  Certainly, there was nothing like the outrage we get these days.  OK, there were some problems immediately after the First World War with delays and overcrowding.  I’ve heard the explanation that this was to do with the introduction of an eight-hour day but I would like to get to the bottom of this.

“Not only is this practice wrong...” Weak.  What I want to get across is that the government is using violence and violence is wrong.  I want to point out the inherent niceness of freedom.

Price signals.  Too technical.  I think we need to imagine a situation where price signals would have an impact and avoid using the term entirely.

Could do with a piccie as well.

Actually, I’m not even sure this is the right article.  “A generic piece of fares” might be more appropriate.

The Worldwide Project Consortium has welcomed Sphinx Egypt Ltd. Co to its specialist global logistics network.

WWPC General Manager, Kevin Stephens, based in Queensland, Australia, said today (December 11, 2006) Sphinx Egypt, with offices in Cairo and Alexandria, had more than 20 year’s experience delivering outstanding service along the important transport artery between Egypt and Europe.

“Sphinx Egypt has an expert team that ensures the Worldwide Project Consortium is well positioned to maximise opportunities in one of the most dynamic emerging markets in the world,” Mr Stephens said.

“The Worldwide Project Consortium has an enviable track record of success that can help meet the logistics needs of a diverse range of clients, particularly those working on large oil and gas projects in the Middle East region.”

Mr Stephens said Sphinx Egypt Ltd. Co. was headed by Dr. Naim Amen and had substantial experience in custom clearance and freight forwarding, particularly large-scale projects throughout Egypt including heavy lifts and oversize cargo.

WWPC members will be gathering in Cape Town, South Africa, from March 29-30, 2007 to attend the annual Partnering for the Future Conference. More than 100 participants are expected to attend.

Major sponsors at the conference included Rickmers-Linie GmbH, Germany; Volga-Dnepr (UK) Limited; Air Partner plc, U.K.; Macs Maritime, South Africa; Beluga Chartering GmbH, Germany; and Sun Communications PR and Media, Australia.

 Source Press Release

Third-Party Assurances Help Customers Meet Sarbanes-Oxley and Other Regulatory Requirements

For the third consecutive year Railinc successfully completed a Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 70 Type II examination. More stringent than a Type I examination, the Type II exam includes detailed testing of Railinc internal controls to demonstrate that they are suitably designed and operating effectively.

"We are dedicated to supporting our customers' compliance requirements," says E. Allen West, Railinc president and CEO.

"The SAS 70 audit validates that Railinc meets the highest standards for securing and protecting data exchanges with Railinc customers. It gives them assurance that their data is being processed accurately and completely."

Under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies are required to receive an opinion from their external auditors regarding their systems of control, including those extending to service providers such as Railinc. The SAS 70 Type II examination allows users to rely on Railinc's controls, reducing auditing expenses for its customers, as well as assuring compliance.
 
The process examined the integrity and security of Railinc's systems, including an exhaustive assessment of internal controls in operations over a six-month period. Railinc's systems, procedures and controls--critical to processing information and millions of confidential financial transactions--were thoroughly evaluated. Specifically, the following four systems were examined: the Railroad Clearinghouse (RCH); the Interline Settlement System (ISS); the Rate EDI Network (REN); and the Liability Continuity System (LCS). Additionally, physical and logical security measures; network access and monitoring; systems development; change management; and customer service were also evaluated.

About Railinc

Railinc  is the largest, single source of real-time, accurate interline rail data in the North American transportation industry. Railinc is the supplier of time-tested products and services like Umler/EMIS, TRAIN II, Interline Settlement, Railcar Accounting, Steelroads, RailSight, and EDI connection services. These systems and services support railroads, shippers, equipment owners, and suppliers along every link of their supply chains. Class I, short lines, regional railroads, and transportation professionals alike, use Railinc's tools and information to manage and analyze their rail traffic.