want a cdl-a but...

I can't imagine dui's from the 80's being a problem. Is there any chance that the companies that you applied to runs Canada any at all, if so, that may be an issue itself.
I have known several drivers up here in AK, that got a dui and after 6 months got their dl back. Several of them drove a pilot car for the next 6 months till they got their cdl back, then right back to trucking, but can not cross the border.

 

crossing into another country with a past can give you a no entry into said countries personally think there's enough freight to avoid Canada but I love musky fishing so there is that. know alot people with even a hardly a bad past and they are not allowed into Canada but thanks to there dumb youth they cannot cross the border there.