CSMS Message: 17-000729

CBP has seen an increase in trucks at the land border where a transponder's status is showing “Not Paid” when in fact, the carrier has a valid annual or single user fee payment on file. In order for the transponder to work, regardless of payment type, the license plate number and vehicle identification number (VIN) on file with the DTOPS must match identically to the records in ACE. In almost 100% of the instances that DTOPS and ACE have researched, the problem at the border stems from a mismatch in the VIN number that was submitted by the carrier.

CBP is requesting that if a driver reports a problem with his/her transponder at the border, verify that the data in the DTOPS account matches the truck information stored in the ACE account and that both of these match what is actually on the truck registration. If the carrier finds a mismatch, he must determine which record is inaccurate compared to the vehicle registration.
• If the mismatch, compared to the vehicle registration, is in DTOPS, he should call the DTOPS Helpdesk for correction.
• If the mismatch, compared to the vehicle registration, is in ACE, the carrier should request a CBP work ticket be opened with the ACE Manifest team to have the incorrect conveyance record deleted from ACE, this applies for both EDI and Portal filers. If the carrier is using the ACE Portal, the carrier can remove the relationship to the incorrect VIN from their ACE portal account and search for the correct VIN. The search will bring the DTOPS record to them and they will then be able to add the conveyance to the account. The ability to remove the relationship does not remove the inaccurate record from ACE, just from the carriers account view; a work ticket should still be opened with ACE to delete the bad record.