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Dec 1, 2001 12:00 PM

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is asking Canada's Transport Minister David Collenette, his provincial colleagues, and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) to resolve consistency and database concerns about safety and technical matters after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

In a letter to Collenette and to Darren Christle, chair of the CCMTA Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Committee, David Bradley, CTA chief executive officer, said, “In recent weeks, some Canadian truck drivers have been detained and/or charged for such things as having one name on their citizenship cards and another on their commercial driver's license. It has been reported to us that Canadian truck drivers whose first language is not English have been fined by state troopers for not meeting the requirement of United States law which states that drivers must be able to speak English well enough to be understood by a police officer. These are irritants which left unchecked could become major problems in today's high-security environment.”

Perhaps of more concern, said Bradley, are “ongoing problems like the lack of a national carrier safety ratings system and database. The line, if it exists at all, between safety and security, is very thin. How long before the US regulators raise concerns about many of these same matters and imperil the reciprocal nature of our regulatory systems?