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In steps to improve safety and enhance the free flow of highway commerce under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the United States and Canada have approved a number of reciprocity agreements on requirements for drivers of commercial motor vehicles.
Scope
The reciprocity agreements apply to all commercial vehicle drivers operating cross borders in both the United States and Canada
Regulatory citations
- 49 CFR 396.11 — Driver vehicle inspection reports (requirements regarding trip inspection)
- National Safety Code Standard 13, Trip Inspections
Key definitions
- None
Summary of requirements
Reciprocity — Medical Fitness. In a step that will improve safety and enhance the free flow of highway commerce under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the United States and Canada have reached an agreement on reciprocity of the medical fitness requirements for drivers of commercial motor vehicles.
The countries have determined that the medical provisions of U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and the Canadian National Safety Code (NSC) are equivalent.
The two countries will recognize the Canadian commercial driver's license as proof of medical fitness to drive, thus eliminating the requirement for Canadian drivers to obtain a U.S. medical examiner's certificate. If the United States adopts a proposal to merge medical fitness determinations with the licensing process, Canada has agreed that it, too, will recognize the U.S. commercial driver's license as proof of medical fitness to drive. U.S. truck drivers now must show their CDL as well as proof of medical fitness to Canadian authorities at the border.
However, Canadian drivers who are insulin-using diabetics, who are hearing-impaired, or who have epilepsy will not be permitted to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States because U.S. regulations prohibit those individuals from operating CMVs in the United States.
Reciprocity — Daily Vehicle Inspections. U.S. reciprocity. The FMCSA accepts daily trip inspection reports by drivers of Canadian-plated vehicles as fully compliant with 49 CFR 396.11, Driver vehicle inspection reports (requirements regarding trip inspection).
Canadian reciprocity. Drivers operating U.S.-plated vehicles and performing pre-and post-trip inspections in accordance with U.S. trip inspection regulations in 49 CFR Part 396 and who carry and produce at the roadside the post-trip inspection report from the previous day will be deemed to have met the trip inspection requirements while in Canada.
The post-trip inspection report must be no more than 24 hours old; if a U.S.-based driver does not have access to the vehicle's previous post-trip inspection report, the driver will be expected to prepare and produce a report as per 49 CFR 396.11 for the purpose of Canadian operations.
The FMCSA's no-defect DVIR allowance in 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i) does not extend into Canada. U.S. Drivers operating in Canada must carry a DVIR, defects or no defects.
Reciprocity — Drivers Licence. The governments of the United States and Canada mutually agreed that the testing and issuance of commercial driver's licenses by their respective countries were similar. As a result, the commercial driver's licenses possessed by a United States-domiciled or Canada-domiciled commercial driver shall be mutually recognized, provided the driver possesses the proper license for the vehicle/vehicle combination being operated. Additionally, those drivers are prohibited from obtaining a commercial driver's license in each other's country.
Accordingly, a commercial driver's license issued by a Canadian jurisdiction in conformity with the Canadian National Safety Code will be considered to be the single commercial driver's license for operation in the United States by Canadian drivers. Also, a Canadian driver holding a commercial driver's license issued under the Canadian National Safety Code will be prohibited from obtaining any driver's license from a State or other licensing jurisdiction of the United States.
On the basis of an examination of the Canadian classified license system and related implementing regulations, as set forth in the Canadian National Safety Code, the Administrator has determined that Canadian provinces and territories in conformance with the Canadian National Safety Code do, indeed, test drivers and issue a CDL in accordance with, or similar to, the standards contained in Subparts F, G, and H of Part 383. Also, the Administrator has determined that the CMV testing and licensing standards in the Canadian jurisdictions in conformance with the Canadian National Safety Code meet the standards contained in Part 383.
Therefore, CDLs issued by Canadian jurisdictions in conformance with the licensing standards established in the Canadian National Safety Code will be honored in the United States. Canadian drivers will not be required to obtain non-resident CDL in order to operate commercial vehicles in this country. Moreover, to ensure the single license concept, Canadian drivers holding a commercial driver's license issued by a Canadian Jurisdiction will be prohibited from obtaining a driver's license, commercial or noncommercial, from a State or other licensing jurisdiction of the United States.
Reciprocity — Periodic Inspections. The FMCSA has determined that the periodic inspection programs required by all of the Canadian Provinces under the CVSE are comparable to, or as effective as, the periodic inspection requirements under the FMCSA periodic inspection standards.
FMCSA has amended the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to, among other things, eliminate the option for a motor carrier to satisfy the periodic (annual) inspection requirement through a violation-free roadside inspection. As a result of this amendment to the FMCSRs, certain regulatory guidance is amended to ensure consistency between the FMCSRs and the published guidance. A CVSA Level I or Level V inspection is not equivalent to the Federal periodic inspection requirements.
Reciprocity — CSA/Carrier Profiles. Transport Canada and the U.S. Department of Transportation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that each country would be responsible for monitoring a motor carrier’s compliance and safety performance in the carrier’s home jurisdiction. The MOU also obliged both countries to endeavour to establish mutually compatible safety rating and audit programs. Fast forward to 2007 when a U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) “Canadian Issues” study concluded both countries share similar vision statements, missions and objectives to reduce truck collisions and recommended they work together to establish a safety-ratings reciprocity agreement.
Under the agreement, a Canadian carrier that operates throughout Canada and the U.S. would have its safety performance activity (collisions, inspections and convictions) in both countries collected, calculated and monitored by its home province. Under that scenario, a carrier would no longer need both a provincial and an FMCSA profile, or be subject to both provincial and FMCSA compliance reviews. The administrative burden on both government and the industry would be reduced. Safety rating reciprocity was even identified as a deliverable under the Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative.
Currently, four provinces are using U.S. inspection and collision data in their carrier profiles — BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provinces are (as they have done since 2007) still collecting and sending information on U.S. carriers operating in their jurisdictions to FMCSA, even though FMCSA is not using the data to populate CSA profiles. Only two provinces (Ontario and Quebec) require U.S. carriers to register to operate in their jurisdictions. As a result, no one is monitoring and creating a history on U.S. carriers’ activities while they are operating in the other eight provinces.