Transporters expect to see fewer delays and lower shipping costs associated with coming into the United States on the Ambassador Bridge with the creation of "fast lanes" for regular bridge crossers.

The new Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism permits businesses to certify employees and shipping processes as secure against terrorist threats. If they meet requirements, they may use the fast lanes in customs. Only commercial traffic may use the lanes.

Besides the fast lanes, participants are assigned a U.S. Customs Service account manager and a credit account to handle customs fees and are subjected to fewer random inspections.

"It's important to keep traffic moving quickly through the border," said Robert Bonner, a Customs Service commissioner.

Importers like the changes - which also mean that the inspectors currently checking all trucks will look at fewer vehicles.

"My customers are the trucks that are coming across," said Marty Bloch, vice president of Dell Will Customs Brokers Inc. in Detroit. "The customers are paying the truck drivers by the hour, so if I can get the trucks off the bridge more quickly, my customers are going to save money."

Bloch said it will be difficult to say how much the savings will be until data about the time savings comes across. But he said that if the preliminary goals are met, then everyone will benefit from faster shipments and lower shipping costs.

Bloch thinks the savings gained from being able to zip through customs offset costs associated with becoming certified. He also doesn't think that the additional background and software checks and other compliance actions necessary are oppressive. But they will cause companies to reach into their bank accounts.

"Most of what they want is good business sense if you want to survive in today's economy," Bloch said. "The real cost is in additional computer firewalls or an alarm system on a building. I don't know what it will cost, but I will say that it's expenses nobody's budgeted for."

Bloch and the Customs Service's Bonner said the costs could be as little as a few thousand dollars, depending on how many trucks and suppliers are involved. Bonner said businesses meeting the rules will be able to move through in as little as 15 seconds. Transponders will send signals to receivers, and inspectors will know the truck is approved to use the lane.

The only slowdown comes when the inspector looks at the driver to make sure the right driver is behind the wheel of the vehicle. "Eventually, we'd like to make it so they don't have to stop at all," Bonner said.