TORONTO — Expired drivers’ licences have been extended during the five-week DriveTest strike in Ontario, but what are cross-border truckers to do when heading stateside?

The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) says it has been working with the Canadian Boarder Services Agency (CBSA) to ensure that cross-border trucking isn’t affected.

The Ministry of Transport has been circulating a letter to carriers confirming validity of expired licenses until the pickets are put down (click here to print a copy), but FAST carriers who want more assurance operations won’t be affected, apparently have it.

CBSA has circulated a document to all ports of entry saying, basically, that FAST drivers whose licenses have expired should not be hassled at the border. Expired driver’s licenses for FAST clients will be accepted until December 31, 2009.

"Obviously we would have liked to see all drivers addressed in this announcement and we will continue to pursue this matter," said OTA’s Jennifer Fox.

Although OTA has not had official confirmation from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the trucking association is lead to believe that the CBSA policy will be honored by their American counterparts.

There have been no reports so far of drivers being turned around at the border but OTA reports some carriers have said that they were not assigning drivers with expired licenses to do cross-border work, just in case.

"These are challenging times for the carrier community; they cannot afford to lose a customer over a load refused at the border," added Fox.

The OTA has also asked member carriers who encounter a problem should provide OTA with the details of the event.