More truckers file e-truck manifests

More truckers file e-truck manifests    Almost 13,000 manifests were electronically filed in September by truckers entering the country from Mexico and Canada, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
   Electronic truck manifest usage is still small compared to the hundreds of thousands of inbound truck trips each month, but has increased from April when fewer than 1,000 electronic documents were filed.
   The e-truck manifest is a component of the Automated Commercial Environment being developed to improve trade processing and security.
   ACE is now operating at all southern and most northern border checkpoints after an 18-month deployment. Truckers are encouraged to use the e-manifest rather than filing paper manifests to speed up processing by customs officers at the border, but using the system is voluntary. Trucking companies can file manifests through a designated Web portal or by CBP-compatible electronic data interchange systems.
   CBP said it plans to initiative a mandatory e-manifest policy on a port-by-port basis in 2007.