Starting today (Thursday, April 19, 2007), carriers entering through land ports in California, New Mexico, and Texas will be required to file electronic manifests prior to arriving at the border.

Since this is Phase I of the ACE e-Manifest implementation for these ports, the information we provided in Greeneye’s Explanation of the U.S. CBP ACE e-Manifest Enforcement Plan is relevant here:

1. If you can show you’ve attempted to file, you should be fine.
2. Providing a Trip Receipt is evidence of an attempt to file an e-Manifest.
3. The e-Manifest-exempted stuff is rare. Chances are an e-Manifest is required for most or all of your shipments.

Although many of the problems and system issues have already been worked out during the Cluster I roll out, you might still run into some issues. Here’s what you should do if that happens:

1. If your driver gets stopped, hassled, etc. for an e-Manifest issue, have them politely take the CBP Officer’s name and be sure to get a problem ticket. That’s the best way to document the situation and make sure its addressed and fixed in the future.
2. If you submit an e-Manifest, it’s not necessarily smooth sailing at the border. You’ll be transmitting a few dozen pieces of information that, if wrong or inconsistent, will require your driver to work with CBP to resolve the problems.

Good luck! Please call, email, or leave a comment if you have any questions - whether or not you’re a customer of ours.