Transborder Trucking

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Canadian and U.S. regulatory policies affecting international trucking to determine: (1) how difficult it is for U.S. truckers to gain authority from provincial regulators to expand their operations to Canada; (2) the differences in costs and restrictions on international operations; and (3) the prospects for change in trucking regulation in Canada.

GAO found that: (1) since the United States has deregulated its trucking industry, it is easier for Canadian firms to expand into the United States than it is for U.S. firms to expand into Canada; (2) each Canadian province requires proof of need for a service before issuing an operating authority and usually restricts that authority to particular commodities or customers; and (3) although there are differences in U.S. and Canadian policies, there is no evidence that these differences favor one nation's carriers over another. GAO also found that: (1) Congress recently passed legislation that requires Canadian truckers to pay a use tax; (2) three Canadian provinces require that U.S. truckers contribute to provincial worker's compensation funds for the time they spend in the provinces; (3) although Canadian truckers have increased their share of international trucking, shifts in the balance of trade and the decline in the Canadian dollar may have influenced this increase; and (4) all of the provinces plan to reform their trucking markets in anticipation of the passage of national legislation to deregulate extraprovincial trucking.