No border delays for Hamilton trucking firm despite COVID-19 closures

The clock is ticking at the Canada-U.S. border.

Ports of entry between the two countries are expected to be shut down to all but essential travel at midnight, Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump announced the ban Wednesday, intended to help curtail the rapid spread of COVID-19 without disrupting the flow of essential goods and services on which Canadians and Americans depend.

Canada and the United States are still working out details of the closure, which will restrict all non-essential travel between the two countries amid the new coronavirus.

The known exceptions to the ban include aircrews, diplomats, healthcare workers and transport companies.

Ron Foxcroft, CEO and chairman of the Fluke Transportation Group, tells Global News going over the border is no problem — getting back is a little different, though.

“U.S. border agents check the documents, check the freight and you move on. We’re a front-line carrier, a critical care and essential care carrier.”

Returning to Canada, measures taken by border guards include a new line of questioning.

“They check the documents, they check the shipment and they ask the driver about their health. Do you have any symptoms, do you have a cold, are you okay?”

While news of the closure may be cause for alarm for some people, Foxcroft wants to reassure Canadians that, as long as they don’t hoard, things will be fine.

“In terms of the supply chain, there’s no shortage of the products that we are trucking, like diapers, tissue, toilet paper, cleaning supplies and so on.”

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If there is any delay, he says, it “is in the loading and unloading, and getting it on the shelf.”

0:40 Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau says border closure will not impact critical supply chains

Foxcroft is also the chairman, founder and CEO of whistle manufacturer Fox 40 International and also worked as Canada’s only NCAA basketball referee.

He received the Order of Canada from Governor General Julie Payette in September 2019.

He emphasized, when it comes to the current Covid-19 pandemic, he’s grateful for one thing.

“During normal times, partisan politics exists. It can give you a migraine watching it, but right now, it’s parked.”

–With files from The Canadian Press