Port trucking to Ontario and Quebec on flatbed and Conestoga
Fission Logistics is a Mississauga, Ontario flatbed carrier. We truck steel coil, aluminum coil, tin plate coil, steel plate and pipe off East Coast, Great Lakes, Ohio River and St. Lawrence ports to plants in Ontario and Quebec. Port drayage to Canada only. US port freight moves in bond under our own US Customs bond, a TWIC driver goes to the gate, and the trucks are booked to clear the terminal before free time runs out.
Ports we truck from
| Port page | Terminals | To Toronto | Crossing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester Marine Terminal | Holt, Gloucester City, NJ | About 715 km | Buffalo or Lewiston |
| Philadelphia and Camden | Tioga, Packer Avenue, Balzano, Broadway | About 711 km | Buffalo or Lewiston |
| Wilmington, Delaware | Port Wilmington (Enstructure) | About 730 km | Buffalo or Lewiston |
| Baltimore trucking | Dundalk, North Locust Point | About 732 km | Buffalo or Lewiston |
| Port Newark and Elizabeth | Red Hook Terminals, project cargo berths | About 731 km, 589 km to Montreal | Champlain, Lewiston |
| Chicago, Iroquois Landing | Iroquois Landing (NASCO) | About 815 km | Detroit, Port Huron |
| Burns Harbor, Indiana | Ports of Indiana Burns Harbor | About 790 km | Detroit, Port Huron |
| Cleveland and Toledo | Cleveland General Cargo Terminal, Toledo | About 463 km from Cleveland | Buffalo, Detroit |
| Pittsburgh and Erie | Ambridge river terminal, Port of Erie | About 504 km from Pittsburgh | Buffalo, Lewiston |
| Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky | Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Louisville, Jeffersonville | About 791 km from Cincinnati | Detroit |
| Hamilton trucking | QSL, Logistec | About 70 km (55 km to Mississauga) | None, Canadian port |
| Oshawa trucking | QSL | About 60 km | None, Canadian port |
| Trois-Rivières | Logistec, Piers 9 to 11 | About 666 km | None, Canadian port |
| Montreal trucking | Bickerdike, Logistec Laurier terminals | About 536 km | None, Canadian port |
| Sorel-Tracy and Contrecoeur | QSL Sorel-Tracy, Logistec Contrecoeur | About 589 to 613 km | None, Canadian ports |
Using a terminal not on this list? Send its name with the quote.
What we haul out of ports
FAK, freight all kinds, anything that rides on a flatbed or Conestoga. Most of it is steel coil, aluminum coil, tin plate coil, steel plate, pipe and beams.
| Freight | Trailer | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| Steel, aluminum and tin plate coil | 53 ft Conestoga with coil racks, covered without a tarp | Up to 45,000 lb |
| Plate, pipe, beams | 53 ft open flatbed or Conestoga | Up to 45,000 lb |
| Heavy coil and plate from Hamilton or Oshawa | 6 axle curtainside | Up to 86,000 lb inside Ontario |
| Heavy coil from Ohio and Indiana ports | 6 axle curtainside | Up to 76,000 lb |
| Heavy loads from the Quebec ports | 4 axle curtainside | Quoted by weight, Ontario and Quebec |
| Tall or wide project pieces | Step deck or double drop, with permits | By the piece |
Coil rides eye to side, eye to sky on skids or eye to front, on timbers and belting with edge protection under every chain and strap. Aluminum coil is strapped, never chained. See our load securement procedures.
In bond under our own bond
Freight landed at a US port for a Canadian plant has not entered the US. It moves to the border in bond, so no US duty is paid, Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs included, and your customs broker clears it into Canada. Fission carries its own CBP custodial bond, Activity Code 2, the bonded carrier bond, so the move runs under our bond, not a broker's or a port trucker's.
- T&E (the 7512). Transportation and exportation. The freight moves from the US port to the port of exportation and leaves the US there. For us that is Buffalo, Lewiston, Alexandria Bay or Champlain in New York, or Detroit or Port Huron in Michigan. Your broker clears it on the Canadian side at Fort Erie, Queenston, Lansdowne, Lacolle, Windsor or Sarnia. It is filed electronically in ACE now; 7512 is still the name everyone uses. CBP allows 30 days from the ship's arrival or its movement authorization, whichever is later, to the day the truck reaches the port of exportation. A port to border run takes a fraction of that.
- 15 days to file. An in bond, an entry or a zone admission has to be on file within 15 calendar days after the cargo is landed or CBP sends the cargo to general order. Send the release early and the 7512 is on file before free time is half gone.
- Who files. One party files the in bond and reports both ends. Fission can file the 7512 in ACE under our bond and report the arrival and export at the crossing within 2 business days. Or your customs broker files it under our bond, with our SCAC, FSGQ, and a letter of authorization from Fission, and reports the arrival and export. Tell dispatch which when you book, so nothing is left open.
- TIB. Goods that came into the US under temporary importation under bond and are now going to Canada. We carry the export move. The importer or its broker lodges CBP Form 3495 with the port of export before the truck crosses, CBP may examine the load there, and the TIB is cancelled on proof of export.
- Freight already cleared into the US, such as river steel that entered at another port, moves as a regular export.
We are CTPAT validated, PIP and FAST approved, and dispatch files the ACE and ACI eManifests on every cross border load. See cross border flatbed.
TWIC drivers and gate access
Most US marine terminals need a TWIC card for unescorted access. Fission assigns TWIC drivers to US port pickups. When the truck that fits the load has a driver without one, we use local escort services, booked ahead of time, so the pickup still makes its appointment instead of waiting for a different truck. Inland river terminals usually set their own check in rules instead, and we follow them.
Free time, storage and demurrage: how we plan
Free time at a port terminal is short. On the PPMTA terminals in Philadelphia and Camden it is 5 working days from the day after discharge. After that, the cargo pays wharf demurrage per 100 lb for every 5 day period it sits. Keeping the lot inside free time is a planning job. This is how we plan:
- We plan trucks against the vessel's discharge date and your last free day. The arrival notice usually comes later.
- The terminal appointment is booked before the truck leaves Ontario, in eModal or whatever system the terminal uses, and confirmed the day before.
- The 7512 is authorized in ACE and the terminal shows the in bond release before the driver reaches the gate.
- A big lot is spread across enough trucks to clear inside free time. We run 80 trucks and 140 trailers, 106 of them curtainside, so 4 trucks a day at one terminal is a normal week.
- We count the calendar the way the terminal does: weekends and holidays usually don't count toward free time, but they do count once storage starts.
- Every tractor runs Samsara, so you see when the truck reaches the gate and when it leaves.
The full playbook, with the published rates and the math: how to avoid port storage and demurrage charges.
Canadian ports: Hamilton, Oshawa, Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Sorel-Tracy and Contrecoeur
No US border, no US in bond. Imported freight sits in the terminal's sufferance warehouse until CBSA accepts your customs broker's release request and the terminal shows it released, and then we load. CBSA allows up to 40 days in a sufferance warehouse, and the terminal charges its own storage on top. Hamilton and Oshawa pickups can go on a 6 axle at up to 86,000 lb inside Ontario, so a heavy lot moves on about half the trucks. The Quebec ports stay open all winter, when the lake ports are closed, and heavy Quebec loads can ride on a 4 axle unit.
Getting a port pickup quoted
Send the port and terminal, the release or bill of lading number, the vessel and its discharge date. Add the piece count and weights, the delivery address, your customs broker's contact and the last free day if you have it. Loads inside 500 miles of the GTA deliver the next business day. Dispatch names the trailer with the price within 1 business hour, 7 am to 6 pm ET, and answers at (905) 799 7900, press 1, 24 hours.
Running a season program through one port? Send the vessel schedule and the lot sizes and dispatch holds trucks against it, so each arrival is planned before the ship docks.
Questions importers and forwarders ask
Which ports do you truck from?
Gloucester, Philadelphia and Camden, Wilmington, Baltimore, Port Newark and Elizabeth, Chicago's Iroquois Landing, Burns Harbor, Cleveland and Toledo, Pittsburgh and Erie, Cincinnati and the Ohio River, Hamilton, Oshawa, Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Sorel-Tracy and Contrecoeur. Send the terminal with the quote.
Do you deliver from US ports to US addresses?
No. Fission is a Canadian carrier, so freight picked up at a US port goes to Ontario or Quebec. From the Canadian ports we deliver across Ontario and Quebec.
Do you move port freight in bond?
Yes. Foreign freight landed at a US port moves on a T&E in bond (the 7512) under Fission's own CBP custodial bond to the border, so no US duty is paid. We also carry TIB exports.
Who files and closes the in bond?
Whoever files it reports both ends. Fission can file it in ACE under our carrier bond and report the arrival and export at the crossing. Or your customs broker files it under our bond, with our SCAC and our letter of authorization, and reports both. Tell dispatch which when you book.
Do your drivers have TWIC cards?
Fission assigns TWIC drivers to US port pickups. When the truck that fits the load has a driver without one, we arrange local gate access ahead of time so the pickup still makes its appointment.
What if CBP holds the lot?
Tell us the day you hear of a hold and we hold the trucks instead of sending them to a closed gate. A hold stops the 30 day in bond clock, because CBP does not count the days the cargo is held for exam. The terminal can keep charging storage, so we go back in the first day the release clears.
What freight do you take out of ports?
FAK, freight all kinds, anything that rides on a flatbed or Conestoga. Most of it is steel coil, aluminum coil, tin plate coil, steel plate, pipe and beams.
What is the heaviest single coil you can take off an East Coast port?
45,000 lb on a tandem at legal weight, which is the trailer we run from the East Coast ports. A single piece over that is quoted after dispatch checks the permit route. From Ohio and Indiana ports a 6 axle takes up to 76,000 lb, and from Hamilton or Oshawa up to 86,000 lb inside Ontario.
Related
Rather talk it through?
Call dispatch with the load and the lane. They'll tell you which trailer it goes on, and someone picks up 24 hours a day.