Canada-US Border Crossing For Trucks

When I drove for SwiftQuit Transportation, Incorporated in 1995, I had to take a few deliveries to Canada. I never again went to Canada in a rig after quitting the 'Quit.

I crossed into Canada at only one point--Detroit/Windsor via the Ambassador Bridge.

The wait to actually cross the border wasn't that long. It was akin to waiting at some of the Jersey toll booths on 95 going north toward NYC.

After passing the gatekeepers, about a mile down the road in Windsor, Ontario I had to go into a brokerage house to check in with my bills. I guess one needed to switch to Canadian brokers back in those days. You probably still do. This process took about 45 minutes to an hour.

I can't remember if I got my bills stamped and handed back or if I got entirely new bills with stamps on them. Either way it went, I was good to go after this broker switcheroo.

 

He's probably a bit more interested in bridge crossing issues in 2008, maybe back into late 2007. tales of what it was like 13 years ago aren't really of much value.

I won't comment because it has been about 2 years since my last trip across, and things have been changing rather rapidly up at the bridges. Any comments I could make would not be reflective of current issues at the crossing.

(By the way, "SwiftQuit" is actually "Swift". He just thinks making up goofy names makes him seem more experienced in some strange way.)

 

FlourPower is back after a short hiatus.

SwiftQuit the name isn't goofy, actually. It tells the truth about that outfit in one compact word. It's even just two short and sweet syllables.

What's goofy is guys will go to a place like SwiftQuit knowing what they're in for. Well....if they do their homework they'll know what they're in for. Even a guy with only three years' experience and a college degree can figure that out.

 

One, if you don't have paperwork and it is the weekend don't expect to cross till monday. I waited 12 hours at a border crossing before I gave up on a saturday. Spent sunday in a hotel and waited in a mall parking lot for five hours on monday just to drop the truck off on the US side. I was trying to cross into canada with a truck from canada and they would not let me. That was at the Su Mas broder crossing in Washington state on Route 9. The wait for trucks there in next to nothing. That was about three weeks ago. This week it took 1.5 hours to get through the Sweet Grass Montana crossing. They had a very long line of trucks there. The Customs agent asked me what I had in my trailer and I replied Misc. items. He got mad with me. So I then told him that I had a complete repair shop back there. Nuts, bolts, wrenches, tools, emmisions lab, and a car. When I said car he acted suprised and said "A CAR!" After that he told me to go on through.

 

My hubby and I go to Canada quit abit. Never had a problem going into Canada. We always use PARS and PAPS. Call the broker 1 hour before arriving at border, everything goes smoothly. The issues are usually coming back into the U.S. The border guards are rude, nasty individuals. On one instance I was asked "have you ever been fingerprinted". Well, not sure. So I hesitated anwsering, I mean SLIGHTLY too! So they pulled us aside, ran the truck through a radar detector, then searched it inside and out. Now, you may ask why did I slightly hesitate when I anwsered. Well, see, back when I was young, I was pregnant with my son, I decided I wanted to try babysitting to make a little extra money as I was a stay home wife while awaiting my son's birth. I remember to babysit you had to apply with HRS (this was in Key West, FL) for a license. For the license everyone in the house had to be finger printed and the prints turned into HRS. Well, I went to HRS and got the application and my husband (a Key West detective with the KWPD at the time) fingerprinted both of us. Well I then decide, nah, I don't think I want to do this, but I don't remember if I had already turned in the application with the prints or not. So, if asked have I ever been fingerprinted. I am not sure if I have or not. Remember they are not asking 'have you ever been fingerprinted for a crime', the question is 'have you EVER been fingerprinted. Technically, yes, my husband printed me for a job.

 

We crossed back and forth into USA and back two to three times a week for four months in 2007 - September, October, November, December.

If you had your paperwork straight and everything ready to go, you'd cross in minutes. If it was a busy crossing, you may have to wait in line up to an hour but that's about it. If your papers weren't in order, delays, delays, delays - going both ways.

Mike used his FAST card and had no problems with it. I didn't have one and used my birth certificate and driver's license. No problem.

It was never more than 10 minutes at the window then through the x-ray machine, five minutes or so, then off we'd go. We only got stopped for an inspection once coming back into Canada and it was hours and hours and hours to get through. Don't know what their problem was but talk about surly, cranky people!! And it was midnight ish so I wasn't happy - I wasn't allowed to go back to sleep in the bunk until we crossed. Sigh. PITA.

That was only once in four months, though... glad it wasn't more often.