Comments By not4hire

Dogs are not required to be spayed or neutered, they are required to have a rabies vaccination (unless less than three months old).

Canadian Border Services Agency: Importing or Travelling with Domestic Dogs

The fact is I could DIE or get KILLED!

Is it too late to tell him he's gonna croak from hypertension long before anything else?

Drivers need to be worried about salt, sugar and deep vein thrombosis far more than knives, bullets and "bad hombres."

Going over can be just as bad as going under...

Heed the advice, lest you get...

Your best weapon...

There sure is a lot of nonsense posted in this thread.

Company policies notwithstanding--which can be stricter than FMCSA regulations--there is no prohibition against mouthwash, or similar personal hygiene products, being in a CMV. Nor is there a prohibition on any other products containing alcohol, other than those intended for human consumption; i.e., beer, wine, spirits. Do you know what air brake antifreeze is? About 90-100% alcohol.

Any legal alcohol testing method will determine the difference between momentary alcohol on your breath from mouthwash and alcohol impairment from drinking. Now, if you're drinking your mouthwash, hand sanitizer or your air brake antifreeze, you can't be helped.

There is, in fact, a time when the FMCSA specifically says you can have alcoholic drinks in the cab... when you are off-duty and transporting them from the store to your place of lodging, etc.

Guidance for § 392.5: Alcohol prohibition.

Question 3: Does the prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in §392.5 apply to a driver who uses a company vehicle, for personal reasons, while off-duty?

Guidance: No. For example, an owner-operator using his/her own vehicle in an off-duty status, or a driver using a company truck or tractor for transportation to a motel, restaurant, or home, would normally be outside the scope of this section.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/392.5

Oh, and if you're a recovering alcoholic, good for you, but keep your judgemental opinions to yourself.

The "local" or "short haul" exemption is a radius of 100 air miles (115 statute miles).

Yes, if you go outside that area you must start a log for that day (assuming you don't normally use a log). No, you do not have to have the previous 8 day's logs with you.

If the return flight is according to the carrier's schedule, it is considered on-duty (not driving) unless you have 8 consecutive hours off-duty afterwards, in which case it becomes off-duty. If your return is according to your own schedule it is off-duty.

DISCLAIMER: I wasn't able to find the guidance regarding the flight, so that may have been rescinded and all flights considered off-duty. Note, though, that all non-driving work (whether or not you're compensated) for a carrier is considered on-duty, so in the absence of anything else, I would follow the "8 hours off equals off-duty" rule.

I had printers in my trucks for many years as I did a lot of cross-border and permit-related work. You can get a nice, compact, good quality inkjet for relatively cheap. The last one I had was a HP 2540 which was a print / scan /copy, wireless connectivity. I had a small plug-in inverter to power the printer in the truck. I even stopped taking my laptop and could do everything from my phone. I have let the printer freeze in northern Canadian winters and bake in south Texas summers and I have never had performance issues. Get a mainstream printer, rather than some off-brand so you can get supplies anywhere. I find the so-called "portable" printers too expensive and too unreliable... and I have used various ones as far back as about 2002.

As for the signature issue mentioned in the op; I have a scanned .jpg of my signature so I can insert it in any document without printing. Open document, insert signature, save document, return email... it takes about as long to do as it took to read that. Also, I haven't sent a fax in at least 12-15 years. Even people who insisted they needed a fax, like customs brokers, always had an email address.

I did my best to avoid most truck stops; pop in for fuel, a shower and that's about it. I had food and storage and cooking available in my truck and I was often OS anyhow, so most truck stops were best to be avoided. Having said that, I used Trucker Path extensively.

However, there is another app, RoadBreakers, that is nothing but parking and has many, many more locations in it. It has the obvious ones as well as many non-obvious ones like hidey-holes, on-street, vacant lots, etc. It was extremely useful as, again, being OS I very often could not take my trailer off the permitted route. Plus, I could park by myself which I liked as it was generally quieter and I didn't have to worry so much about some dummy ripping off my hood.

Additional questions-

1 - does having citizenship in both countries have an advantage?

2 - what might I expect if I wish to base from Canada and have to transfer license?

3 - could one technically live in Canada and work in the US ( or vise-versa) or would it require maintaining 2 residences?

1. It could. Cabotage refers to the transport of goods or passengers between two points within the same country by a foreign carrier. There are two components that are regulated by two separate government agencies; 1) the equipment, regulated by customs, and 2) personnel, regulated by immigration. A driver from Canada that does not possess a visa to work in the US can only deliver loads to or from the US, but not pick up a load in the US and deliver that same load within the US (except for very specific circumstances dealing with in-bond loads). Likewise, the carrier must have permission for its equipment to be used for point-to-point loads within the US. All of the foregoing also applies to US drivers and companies in Canada.

If you are a dual-citizen and you drive for a company that has full authority in both countries, then you woud have no restrictions on your ability to pick up and deliver loads to, from or within either country.

2. If you wish to transfer your license you will have to follow the rules of the jurisdiction you wish to transfer it to. In most, if not all, cases of an international transfer, you will have to re-write and re-take the driving tests.

3. Yes, assuming you are legal to do so (via either dual-citizenship, visa or beneficiary of the Jay Treaty). You would not be required to maintain two residences. Even if you are not legal to work in the foreign country, you can still be employed by a carrier from that country. So, you can be a Canadian that works for a US carrier and vise versa.

I know of one individual that lived in Canada, but picked up his loaded truck at the beginning of each turn in the US. He would make multiple deliveries in Canada and then return the truck to the US and go home, back to Canada. Likewise, an American could do the same working for a Canadian company.