Halfway House Freight Forwarding, aka how to get stuff across the border

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MLU’ers

I’ve been quiet about how I’d get replacement body panels for the 1974 Pattern M151A2. Today I can report a successful run up to the US border and return with a “crate” of four newly produced rear body panels from www.m151bodypanels.com, otherwise known as Cameron Fabricating in Horseshead, New York. My point of contact has been Guy Loomis. Dave who is doing the rebuild pronounced the pieces very well made and worth every penny and every hour saved. They arrived very well protected, and nicely wrapped.

The story begins with a critical conversation about what could and what could not be saved on the jeep. Dave identified what he knew would be easier to buy than build, including one panel listed on a German M151 panel website but not Cameron’s US site. Guy and I had a couple conversations, including about the German panel. Yes, he makes all their stock, but the US site hasn’t been updated. He put my job onto the schedule, and whatever shift got the job, bent and welded the A2 rear panel specifically for my order. He took my credit card info, and a few days later sent me the transport tracking number.

In The Here And Now Times, the Canada/US border restricts just about all travel, and shipping has become hideously expensive and problematic. In The Before Times, I would have crossed the border at Ogdensburg, New York to get a shipment, sent for cheap inside the US. The solution is an anomaly of geography and boundary surveying in Ste Agnes de Dundee, Quebec where Half Way House Freight Forwarding www.hwhff.biz run a cross border shipping operation.

The building is a rundown 1843-vintage smalltown hotel and tavern one-time known as the International Hotel. Liquor licencing jurisdictions and border security changes forced them out of the draft beer and pickled eggs business, and into becoming a shipping office. The front door is in New York, and the back porch, via a muddy driveway through an orchard, is in Quebec. There is an actual line in the terrazzo floor with Canada and USA labels. Deliveries go their respective side’s door, and the workers physically move the parcel inside the converted beer parlour and onto plywood shelves. Conveniently, the Canada Customs station is 50m over on the other side of the parking lot. Two plywood direction signs remind customers to speak to Customs next.

My observations on the business. Caveat Emptor. It is not a gleaming, polished machine. The record keeping was a loose-leaf binder and paper money was literally dropped into a desk drawer. My 100lb pallet was $20. I doubt there is any fire or theft insurance. There was a problem with my name on the shipping label. The old fella who owns the business or the family operate it, could have easily sent the pallet back to Cameron. So as quickly as I was told of its arrival, I got going. There is no actual freight dock or loading platform, and my pallet was sitting outside. It probably was stored inside overnight, but anything that can’t be manhandled through a passage door might be an issue. Finally, because of the border closures I had to drive from Ottawa to Valleyfield, Quebec then southwest to Ste Agnes de Dundee. Two sides of a triangle, with the St Lawrence River in between. Half Way House is convenient for Montreal and the Eastern Townships, and somewhat handy for Eastern Ontario. But unless the savings are significant, budget your trip to include the fuel, and a poutine and a Pepsi at a roadside frite stand.

The trip was interesting for one other reason. On the 7th of November all of Quebec will have their municipal elections. One set of signs enroute had a familiar name and smile. Retired RSM of the Canadian Army CWO Gino Moretti, who was CWO of RC(South) in Kandahar when I was there, is up for reelection in St Anicet. Retirement obviously didn’t fit Gino, err Sir!