This post appeared in Truck News November, 2014
For large numbers of Canadian drivers crossing the U.S. border is part of the regular driving routine. This past September I was pulled in for a secondary inspection at the port of Pembina, ND. This is not unusual. I was pulling an empty trailer and it was a random inspection, at least to the best of my knowledge. Secondary inspections are thorough, starting with a full scan of the truck followed by a thorough search of the cab by customs officers. As a driver you wait in the customs office after parking and are subject to a personal search in a separate room. This is not anything too invasive, simply emptying your pockets and answering a few questions about what is in the cab of your truck. Do you have any weapons? Do you have any cash over $10,000? Do you have alcohol or tobacco on board? Do you have any fruits & vegetables? As all of us that cross the border on a regular basis know, you must declare all of these things. This is standard procedure on both sides of the border. But in this instance I was also asked what electronic devices I had and was asked to provide passwords to access them.
For large numbers of Canadian drivers crossing the U.S. border is part of the regular driving routine. This past September I was pulled in for a secondary inspection at the port of Pembina, ND. This is not unusual. I was pulling an empty trailer and it was a random inspection, at least to the best of my knowledge. Secondary inspections are thorough, starting with a full scan of the truck followed by a thorough search of the cab by customs officers. As a driver you wait in the customs office after parking and are subject to a personal search in a separate room. This is not anything too invasive, simply emptying your pockets and answering a few questions about what is in the cab of your truck. Do you have any weapons? Do you have any cash over $10,000? Do you have alcohol or tobacco on board? Do you have any fruits & vegetables? As all of us that cross the border on a regular basis know, you must declare all of these things. This is standard procedure on both sides of the border. But in this instance I was also asked what electronic devices I had and was asked to provide passwords to access them.
“Is there anything on the hard drive of your laptop you want
to tell me about”? I was asked.
About 90 minutes after arriving at the port I was cleared
and on my way down interstate 29. I have been through many secondary
inspections at the international border over the course of my driving career. I
don’t take these inspections personally because I recognise and agree with the
necessity of the process. I have always been treated professionally by members
of the U.S. border service and Canadian border services. I’ve always recognized
that I am a guest in the U.S. and conduct myself as such. But when someone
walks through your bedroom and rifles through your personal effects all of the
reason and justification for that action does not stop the feeling of intrusion
on your personal privacy from creeping into your thoughts and stirring your
emotions. I started to stew in my own juices as I continued down the road.
My thoughts first turned to all of the regulations
commercial drivers must comply with starting with roadside inspections. My last
inspection had been on the side of the road, literally. It had taken place just
outside of Green Bay on Wisconsin highway 29. It was a blitz by Wisconsin State
Police. Commercial vehicles were being randomly inspected on both sides of the
highway. I downloaded my electronic logs to the officers email account and
provided documentation to support them. A canine unit was involved in the
inspections so a drug sniffer dog was walked around the outside of my truck as
part of the process. I will say again, that like my treatment at the border,
the conduct of enforcement officials over the course of my career has been
nothing short of professional and courteous. This has held true for me
throughout jurisdictions across North America.
So what was I getting myself worked up about? This is the
law of the land I’m complying with. I have nothing to hide and it’s just part
of my job. But my mind had not finished with its walk down the path of
injustice to my ego. I started thinking about electronic on board recorders and
hours of service rules. I started contemplating the implications of the
expanding field of telematics and driver monitoring technologies. I started
deliberating in my mind the pros and cons of automation within the trucking
industry, where that would lead, and where would that leave me in another 10
years. I thought about how large trucking companies rationalise the millions of
dollars they spend on technology to improve the bottom line and the miniscule
amounts that are spent on driver training and development in comparison.
It wasn’t long before I pulled myself back into the present
moment and started to enjoy the view outside of my office window again. The hum
of a diesel engine and the rhythmic sounds of rubber rolling across concrete
and asphalt are soothing to a trucker. Add a little rock n’ roll via the radio
or your ipod and your mind slips back into that little slice of heaven on
wheels. Truck driving is still a great gig despite everyone’s efforts to make
it otherwise I think to myself.
The world is changing rapidly and so is the trucking
industry. There are many outside pressures on drivers today that did not exist
when I entered this business over 15 years ago. For the most part drivers have
been left to adapt to these pressures on their own. This trend has played into
the current driver shortage in a big way and needs to be addressed.
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