U.S. Customs tries online payments for user fees at land borders

U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a one-year pilot program last month, which allows commercial trucks to prepay single-crossing user fees online prior to arrival at three different land ports of entry.    Commercial trucks can now prepay single-crossing user fees online prior to arrival at the Buffalo, Detroit and El Paso, Texas, land ports of entry under a one-year pilot program U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched this month.
   U.S. law requires CBP to collect a $13.05 user fee from all trucks crossing the border from Canada or Mexico to offset border inspection costs.
    Under the pilot program, carriers or their agents can pay the fee on a new CBP website that is also mobile friendly. Trucks will be identified as having paid through a decal on their windshield that contains a radio frequency identification chip. CBP said it is also developing a prepay app for smartphones.
   Paying the single-crossing user fee in advance is designed to reduce wait times and fuel consumption at border checkpoints versus having drivers pay by cash or credit card at the primary booth.
   CBP already allows truckers to pay an annual fee of $401 online through the transponder program, which is recommended for trucks making more than 40 crossings a year.
   To make a payment, users must set up an account in the Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPS), register their vehicle(s), select the single-crossing payment option and checkout with the secure online payment system. DTOPS will confirm payment by providing an electronic receipt. Single-crossing online payments are good until Dec. 31 of the year purchased.
   Cash and credit card payments will continue to be accepted at the border, but carriers who pay upon arrival may experience additional delays, CBP said.
   Once completed, the pilot will be evaluated for a 90-day period after which time CBP will determine whether to expand the program to all U.S. land border ports of entry that process commercial trucks.
   The more efficient payment system is an outgrowth of a pre-inspection pilot a couple years ago at the Peace Bridge, which connects Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. One of the lessons learned from the Peace Bridge pilot is that trucks can save more than two minutes in processing by giving them prepaid decals instead of paying cash each trip for tolls, according to industry and government officials familiar with the process.
   CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske last year said the agency plans to phase out the use of cash in favor of transponders as a way to increase capacity without having to build more traffic lanes.