After intense discussions between transportation authorities in Canada and the United States, an agreement was reached this week on an interim rule that allows Canadian truck drivers to continue transporting explosives into and out of the United States.

David Bradley, CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), said he was pleased with the outcome.
"Two weeks ago, CTA alerted officials of the Canadian government on implications of new rules under the U.S. Safe Explosives Act that would have shut out Canadian drivers from hauling explosives to or from the U.S. effective Jan. 24," said Bradley. "Actions were taken swiftly by the trucking industry and Canadian and U.S. government officials to help resolve the matter."
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ Safe Explosives Act added a number of categories of persons who could not lawfully transport explosives in interstate or foreign commerce, one of which was Canadian-resident drivers.
"We reached an interim agreement during meetings in Washington on Jan. 30 and 31. With the support of Transport Canada and Canadian Embassy officials, we stressed the severity of the prohibitions against Canadian drivers to officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation Security Administration and United States Customs Service," said Bradley. "We were successful in securing a 30-day protocol to permit Canadian resident drivers to continue transporting explosives across the border. Acceptance of our position by the U.S. Department of Transportation last week in Washington was particularly helpful."
CTA, Transport Canada and Natural Resources Canada combined efforts to obtain information on Canadian drivers, carriers and shippers of explosives for submission to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) by Monday of this week. Following review by the TSA, this information is now being provided to U.S. Customs, and will allow Canadian explosives carriers to enter the United States if the carrier, shipper and driver are on an approved list.
Temporary regulations were issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday that effectively override efforts by ATF to prevent Canadian drivers from hauling explosives into the United States without a complicated and time-consuming background check.
According to Bradley, "This issue is still very fluid, as the protocol now in place is only a temporary measure. Consultations must be completed between Canada and the U.S. to put in place a permanent process for security checks of drivers operating across the border. Over the next 30 days, CTA will be working actively with Transport Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the U.S. government agencies involved, to implement security measures building on the measures already established under the Free and Secure Trade program."