Bus freight through U.S. axed

Any freight sent between Rainy River District and Winnipeg on Grey Goose/Greyhound Bus Lines now has to travel through Thunder Bay after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection put limitations on freight crossing the border.
“They’re not taking parcels through the States any more as per U.S. Customs regulations,” said Paul Bock, owner of North Air Services here.
“They’re shipping everything from Winnipeg through Thunder Bay and back here, so you can’t get stuff same day,” he added. “You can get next morning or next afternoon, but it’s not quite as immediate as it used to be.”
Bock said the new policy originally was going to be put into place in early December, but was pushed back until after the Christmas rush.
He also said the regulation appears to be nation-wide in the U.S. and not restricted to the crossings at Baudette and Warroad.
“[Greyhound has] been trying to liaise with Customs, trying to tell them this stuff is only in the U.S. for less than an hour, but to no avail, basically,” Bock noted.
Gord McTaggart, owner of Excel bus lines which travels between Fort Frances and Kenora, said Grey Goose did not contact him regarding the change.
“It wouldn’t be in their best interest. If they route through Thunder Bay, they get the whole value of the freight,” he noted. “If they route through Kenora, they have to split it with us.”
McTaggart said people in Fort Frances who want to ship parcels to Winnipeg could send them to Kenora on Excel, then transfer the parcel to Greyhound.
The Excel bus from Fort Frances arrives in Kenora at 6:10 p.m. The last Greyhound bus leaves Kenora at 8:10 p.m. and arrives in Winnipeg at 10:40 p.m.
While McTaggart said people shipping to Winnipeg are welcome to do that in Fort Frances, it’s up to Greyhound whether it wants to offer the same service from Winnipeg to Fort Frances.
In other news, Bock said Grey Goose is looking at reducing its service in the district.
“They may be changing some schedules through here or dropping some of the runs,” he noted Tuesday. “I really don’t know. It’s all speculation at the moment.”