hey lost track whose porblem was it but it is a simple fix right click on the Excel Source and choose Advanced Editor and then Sselect INPUT OUTPUT PROPERTIES TAB you will find Excel Source output and then click output column and then slect the column for which you have the problem and then on th eright hand side there will be common properties and then in that under the data type properties change it to your requirement this should fix you problem let me know it does or if it doesnt... and most important use SQL in the data access method and then TRIM the Column