The Stream of International Commerce

You have a problem.

It's way above my paygrade as just a Drivah, but be very careful to bring evidence where possible within the rules pertaining to cross border delivery to and from both of our Nations.

You can come down here to the USA and deliver, or pickup going back to Canada. Or better yet go back empty. Less of a hassle with customs, because everything crossing needs papers in advance ready to go before you arrive at border.

YOU CANNOT do domestic point to point inside the USA, nor can I come to Canada load in Winsdor and go to say Brampton. Follow me so far?

Cited material page 50.

Trucking Guide to Border Crossing

Edit.

I realized you wrote about a Cdn driver waiting for your load. Eh? YOU are Cdn too. Why don't YOU take it straight to Canada?

I wonder about this... that giving away trailers when both you drivers are Cdn and that thing is going up there anyway is very strange and smells of a problem potentially. I don't know enough to put my finger on it.

 

Interesting.

 

The beginning and end of your trip:

• Delivering first load from Canada
• Deadheading to reload
• Hooking up to empty trailer
• Deadheading to get loaded
• Delivering load to Canada

and switching trailers is perfectly legal. The only question is dropping the loaded trailer. I don't believe that to be Cabotage so long as the next driver/team takes that trailer directly back to Canada as the return portion of a relay.

To my knowledge there is no rule stating the relay drivers/teams must meet or be waiting, only that the relay occurs within a "reasonable" time frame. The Montgomery to Columbia portion should qualify as a relay so long as it does go back to Canada. It is not considered a domestic move so long as none of the goods are delivered within the US.

In summary, I'm going to side with the company.

A good review of the rules from US DHS is here.

 

I think you are good to go as well, what the company does with the trailer in Columbia is their problem if they don't keep the movement kosher. What would be best is sending a email to ICC explaining the circumstances and their responding email would be your saving grace.

 

As long as the Montgomery load continues to Canada eventually you are fine. If they are unloading it there amd issuing new bol than that would change things. The other way it would become illegal or shady would be if you are dropping it a customer instead of their own drop yard. I wouldn't be surprised if the trucking company has to be a bonded carrier and a secure yard to do this also.

 

recon not4hire called it right ,,but there are a lot o companys that like to try it on when in the states...one out my way "lets just say the deal was " load of sunflower seeds to KS then unload at farm (small feedmill) then do a couple o loads from same company field bins into feedmill or on one case two days running from field into mill(should have been one day x2 trucks) but my friend refused to play the game as he didn't fancy a KS jail. the office cussed him/farmer the same the other driver called him out ,my friend just ignored them waited until he got his reload to Canada (the other driver loaded for MN from the mill then MN back to Canada and nope he wasn't dual citizen/Meti,or native just a company brown nose).

 

First off, congratulations on recognizing that there are really two parts to cabotage; customs and immigration. Very few people, including those that should know, are aware of that. However, I think you're getting hung up on minutiae that doesn't apply.

The first reload is not having the goods in the trailer delivered to Columbia. Nor are the goods being cross-docked. The trailer is being dropped for another driver/team to return it to Canada and so it is in the stream of international commerce and never leaves it.

To take your concern to an extreme position; it seems you are saying that neither inbound nor outbound loads can stop in any manner. This would seem to imply that a driver cannot stop for a reset, drop their trailer, drive around doing some sightseeing and then return to their trailer and resume the trip.

Reviewing the link, the example given clearly indicates a US domestic delivery which you are not engaging in.

 

I used to bring a meat load to the inspection station then drop it and bring a Canadian bound load back to Canada .. we did this to give our Chicago bound guys enough hours to do their second turn.. customs said it was illegal for some reason and company got fines or warnings not sure which but we no longer do that