I live in sarnia ontario. I plan on starting a career in trucking, my question is this. Someitmes the wait when crossing the Bridge from the USA to Canada, is usally a 2-3 hour wait sometimes even longer. Do companies pay the truckers to be sitting there for hours in a line?

 

I've never gotten paid for sitting there. Not for going into Canada, or coming back to the USA. But, I have never seen long lines going into Canada. They were always when coming back into the States.

Been a few years since I've been in Canada. Things may have changed.

 

The lines at sarnia are normally always trucks waiting to get into the USA.

Never been in a line coming into canada there yet.

That crossing seems to be the worst crossing in ontario lately for lineups, US customs work so damn slow there, i hate that place!
Detroit /windsor is usually better lately it seems

And no most drivers don;t get paid, some companies will pay a flat rate per crossing like around 15 bucks maybe, but most pay nothing, the drivers sit for free, unless they are hourly local drivers.

 

I always cross the Blue Water Bridge Port Huron/Sarnia both ways, over a period of 7 years, I have never been stuck there beyond 30-45 minutes at the most. Some times I cross unabated. (15 minutes.)

I don't cross regular though, usually about once or twice a month. I do generally cross afternoons eastbound, and nights westbound.
I've "heard" of these long waits, but I've never experienced it myself.

 

I've never crossed at Sarnia, but I know Windsor can be a real pain in the ass, especially crossing into the US. Now try doing it as an employee of a US company with a foreign passport, and you're really in for the red carpet treatment :roll:
Every time I was sent into Ontario, I spent the majority of my time there with my fingers crossed hoping that my next dispatch would take me in by way of Niagara Falls. The Niagara station just seemed so much more... streamlined.. compared to Windsor/Detroit.

 

I sat unpaid at the boarder for 2-8 hours many times as the broker didn't have the paper work done. And snowballed from there as I had to reschedule my appointment time for the next day. Once this happened on a Friday and I sat in Toronto until Monday unpaid . Just another reason I got out of trucking.

BTW there is always a line up both ways at Fort Erie.

Paid by the mile sucks.. that why the turnoverate is so HIGH

 

Traffic can get a little congested during certain times of the day. I have seen it backed up for miles at Windsor. There has usually not been as much traffic when I have crossed at Niagara. As long as your paperwork is in order it should not be a big deal to cross the border. It isn't any worse than sitting in traffic in any major city during rush hour. It is up to the driver and carrier to make sure the broker has cleared the load. You can call ahead and ask before getting to the border. If everything is in order you just go right through. I only remember one time I crossed when the broker failed to clear a load. All I had to do is park, go inside the building, talk with the broker, get back in my truck and cross the border. With everything I probably lost about an hour. You don't want to get to the border without a manifest. That is the responsibility of the driver to make sure he has all of the paperwork. If the carrier or dispatcher has kept on top of the broker, things should move smoothly. It can be a bit unnerving the first time or two. After all, you are crossing into another country, no matter how much similarities we see. Each country has their own rules. I don't know of any carriers who pay drivers to sit. Some have a flat fee they pay to cross the border which helps to offset the time involved, but most don't pay anything extra.

 

I guess I should consider myself lucky. I've crossed into Canada three times at Detroit/Windsor and once into Manitoba coming from N. Dakota and have been held up longer than a hour. And that was in Manitoba because the brought into customs for a short interview.

And coming back into the States I've crossed over twice into Buffalo, once into Detroit and the third was back into ND and every time was right on though. The only time I have a issue is when I forget to write down my trailer plate number for the US Customs at Buffalo.

But I also have a Passport. I know a few other drivers who still do it with a Birth Certificate and they get called in on a regular basis.

 

After your driving without insurance conviction I would say you don't have to worry about this because you won't be doing it in a CMV.

 

don't be such an a-hole hwd...geez