What is the easiest way to take advantage of an opportunity where, as a non-bonded highway carrier, you’re asked to pick up a load that needs to be traveled safely in-bond through Canada? The single-trip bond is your best alternative.

Issued by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), bonds, whether single way or annual, allow carriers to transport goods internally to a sufferance warehouse for eventual release or “in-transit” in Canada for release further down the line outside the country.

The CBSA require a carrier who wants to become annually bonded a carrier code, putting up financial responsibility for $25K as well as usual forms and signatures expected from an administrative application process. The thought of jumping through all the hoops may scare a few. But keep this in mind: obtaining a single-trip can be obtained on an as-needed basis, making it simpler and more accessible for carriers.

Obtaining the single-trip bond is doable via the CBSA or the First Port of Arrival using cash or a certified cheque to file for security. You may also want to opt for the services of a customs broker like Clearit that will help you navigate through the process and deal with security matters.

When moving goods during a single-bond trip, they are associated to a carrier code of the carrier responsible for the transport. A bond authorization number and a Cargo Control Number (CCN) are issued and included on a Cargo Control Document (CCD) which allows the CBSA to report, trace and acquit for all shipments. Because the CBSA believes that the process related to single-trip bond is declining, the administrative steps will remain paper based.

How to single-trip bond the movement of goods:

  1. Cargo and conveyance data is transmitted by the highway carrier as a frontier release prior to arriving to the First Port of Call.
  2. The driver will declare at the Primary Inspection Line that a single-trip authorization is required to move inland with the goods. He will then provide a lead sheet to the Borders Services Officer on which there is a barcode CRN or barcode CCN with a handwritten CRN.
  3. The officer will refer the driver inside to apply for a single-trip bond.
  4. A completed paper re-manifest (A8A) is presented to the officer who will stamp the A8A in order to allow the driver to continue on inland with the goods. Clearance is then granted and processed as an in-bond transport.
  5. The copies of the A8A are split as they were pre-emanifest. The carriers will avoid being penalized for handwriting the CCN on the A8A used to re-manifest during a single-trip in-bond transit.
  6. The goods being transported must reach destination that was approved by the CBSA as per the bond. Normally, the single-trip ends at the moment the goods have reached their destination.

Carriers are obligated to keep all records related to the single-trip bond for 3 years plus the current year.

To find out more about how Clearit can help single-trip bond the movement of your goods, Click Here