You're absolutely right. The trucking industry isn't different from a lot of other Canadian industries in that it is primarily made up of small businesses. There are over 10,000 carriers in this country. There's a handful of large ones and a lot of very small ones. It's fundamentally important that those guys be able to cross the border without delay. Again, we operate, as Professor Hart indicated, in a just-in-time environment. A truck at a standstill makes no revenue for the carrier, and the driver probably isn't making anything if he's held up at the border. Of course, you also run into issues such as those you indicated for perishable products.
As was mentioned in Mr. Bradley's prepared remarks, we hold out some considerable hope that through harmonized pre-clearance processes the situation at the border will get better. I use this term all the time--it's kind of nuts and bolts things. The U.S. has developed what they call an automated truck manifest. We provide information in advance--certain data elements, cargo, crew, conveyance information--electronically. It's mandatory at certain locations on the U.S. land border, and it will be at all locations on the U.S. land border by the end of this year.
Canada is just embarking on a similar process. It's referred to as ACI--automated commercial information--I believe. There's a commitment in SPP to harmonize those two processes, so trucking companies are not building different systems, depending on which way the data is going. It's extremely important for us.
We are involved in a consultative process that has been established by the Canada Border Services Agency that in fact includes representatives from U.S. Customs. Business groups of all kinds are part of that consultative process. It's one of our top priorities right now.