U.S., Canada Reach Reciprocity Deal

Related Stories

(Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

After three years of negotiations, the United States and Canada have finally reached an agreement to recognize one another's medical requirements for truckers.

Once in place, the agreement will mean a Canadian commercial driver's license will qualify a driver to operate in the U.S. and vice versa. Currently, drivers must take an extra medical exam in order to cross the border. The official exchange of letters occurred Dec. 30 and takes effect in 90 days, on March 31.

Such an agreement was supposed to be implemented as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but it was stalled while negotiators in the U.S. and in the Canadian provinces worked out the details.

The deal became a higher priority in October, when the Canadian Medical Protective Agency, a group representing doctors in Canada, advised its members to stop performing the U.S. medical exams Canadian drivers need to operate in the U.S. The CMPA was worried about the potential legal liability a Canadian doctor could face if a driver they examined got in an accident.

To ensure Canadian truckers could continue working in the U.S., the Canadian Trucking Alliance put pressure on Transport Canada and the U.S. Department of Transportation to finalize the long-awaited agreement on medical reciprocity. All sides agreed such a step would solve the problem.

CTA had hoped the CMPA would tell its members to begin performing the exams during the 90-days before the agreement takes effect, but James Sproule, a spokesman for CMPA until March 30, said the organization will continue to advise its doctors not to perform U.S. medical exams. "It's exactly the solution we wanted so we're very happy it's come about, but until such time as the agreement becomes effective the situation is the same for us," he said. "A member who fills out an American medical form in accordance with American law on the 30th of March is still subject to the legal vulnerability in the U.S."

I>For the full story, see the Jan. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.