Thousands more companies make the leap to ACE

WASHINGTON — The number of electronic manifests filed with U.S. Customs has skyrocketed from 1,000 to over 40,000 in five months, reports the agency.

Nearly 13,000 filings were sent to CBP in September alone. The number continues to grow as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the e-manifest feature become available at more land-border ports of entry.

Recently, CBP announced that all of its N.Y.-Canada land crossings were ACE ready. Most major border points between the two countries can also handle ACE, which enables motor carriers and shippers to electronically submit manifests to CBP prior to arrival at U.S. land border crossings.

“We are very pleased with the continued growth in e-manifest usage,” said cargo systems program office executive director Lou Samenfink. “Every company that makes the switch to e-manifests now will avoid the rush and
any resulting delays when we begin to make e-manifests mandatory next year.”

Options for filing e-manifests Truck carriers can submit an e-manifest through the web-based ACE secure data portal or via a CBP approved Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The ACE portal is essentially a customized Web site for authorized users that connects CBP, the trade community and other participating government agencies with a single, centralized on-line access point for communications and information. There is no charge to use the portal.

Truck carriers may choose to use third parties, who usually require a fee, to transmit e-manifests. Carriers may also elect to purchase software from an EDI software provider.