OTTAWA — Canada’s leading trucker rep is waiting anxiously for the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ID rules to kick-in on Monday, June 1.

Even though the Canadian Trucking Alliance helped avert potential border chaos this week by convincing US Customs to make some last minute changes to its policy, CTA boss David Bradley worries that the message from head office in Washington may
not have filtered down to all of the front line officers at land border points.

"We are hopeful that there will be no surprises come Monday, but a lot depends on matters that are out of our control at this stage," said Bradley. "We have good lines of communication to senior U.S. border officials, and we will call upon them to address any problems that may emerge quickly so that truck traffic and trade is not disrupted."

As todaystrucking.com reported earlier this week, U.S. Customs was not set up to accept older FAST cards. Only new, Generation 2 FAST cards — most of which have not yet been mailed to drivers — have the RFID technology that is compatible with the ID readers at ports of entry.

After discussing the issue with CTA, American officials said that they would allow drivers to present older FAST cards until their new ones have been received.

Acceptable forms of ID include a passport, FAST card or a security enhanced drivers’ licence.