hi fellas,marty here from ireland.am applying for job in canada at present. need some help.the firm im gonna work for has told me i will be running into the states both tipping and reloading.do i have to apply to get a visa to go into the states as well as one for canada? problem is i have a record from twenty years back for drink driving. plus have the usual speeding fines and tacko offences along with six points… sounds bad dont it? trying to be honest with you lads! am i gonna have a hard time,or will they even allow me in the country? can use your answers as ive no one else to ask.am doing my haz chem test at the minute so will be on this yoke every evening till monday. any one out there that was in same position?
You can try, but they specifically state that you won’t be any good for running into the states with a criminal record and possibly won’t be able to get a canadian visa either, but drink driving is major offence in Canada so imagine it’d be difficult if not impossible getting a trucking job.
My guess is that you won’t have any problems if your record is spent. I know that in the UK, after a few years is removed. I would as for a copy of your record and see what it says. If there is something there, try to get it removed.
The U.S and Canada shares crimminal record information, but I’m not sure if the U.S. will know about your misadventures.
Canada is actually a little flexible when it comes to crimminal records, as long as it’s not extensive and that the crime took place a long time ago.
Go down to your local police station and see what they have on you and let me know.
Hi Nicholas,would just like to thank you for your reply that was positive and informative.I wrote back to the firm that i was intrested in an they told me to send all my information over and they would take it from there. it has given my morale a boost to know there are people out there who are still open mined. will keep you posted as i go along.many thanks,marty
Sorry,sent same message twice
Glad to hear that everything is going well so far.
Keep us posted.
I’m not trying to just be the voice of doom and gloom, it’s just based on the fact that the rehabilitation of offenders act only applies to declaring convinctions in the UK, it’s not recognised in America. They remain on your record even when spent, and will be there for the US/Canada to see if you have to supply a police check (which you will). You can get criminal records wiped I believed through a long drawn out procedure, but whether you’d be eligble I don’t know.
You will have to change your licence to a Canadian class1 & you get a clean 1 to start with so your points won’t matter, the DD I don’t know about but if you come over on a 2yr work permit (HRSDC) you get 2yrs to build a problem free record of being in Canada so that will help you when you apply for residency. When I came over I was told that Bin Laden would get approved on that programme so give it a shot, see what happens.
I myself had a black mark on my record, it was over 20yrs ago, nothing major, just a punch up but I was told the Canadians dont worry if it aint too serious, the only trouble could be when you try to get into the US with a load, if you get refused entry then you got a big problem, most of the time the border guards see a British passport & wave you through, but it only takes 1.
As has been said DD is a major offence over here, I believe that you get kicked out if you get captured, even if you’re a resident & it can be touch & go if you have citizenship, could be BS but that’s what I’ve heard.
Good luck
If you get a DD while on PR, it’s not problem. You will not get deported but you will lose your job, and it will be difficult getting a driving job in the future.
is this martin from the lough?
You will have to supply for the PNP immigration that you intend to do, an up to date Criminal Records Check, googl it as you must have this. If this comes back " Unclean " you will have to go to the US embassy and get it all sorted before you come over. It sounds worse than it is,
wonder what has happened in the past couple of years … ?
The yanks are funny bunch when it comes to letting people cross their borders.You mention that you’re in the middle of a Hazchem course,is this related to the job in Canada? If you haul Hazmat from Canada into the States you’ll require a FAST card,which is issued by the Department of Homeland Security,they’ll do a FULL background check,even contacting previous employers. Best of luck.
flat to the mat:
The yanks are funny bunch when it comes to letting people cross their borders.You mention that you’re in the middle of a Hazchem course,is this related to the job in Canada? If you haul Hazmat from Canada into the States you’ll require a FAST card,which is issued by the Department of Homeland Security,they’ll do a FULL background check,even contacting previous employers. Best of luck.
The Canadians are even stranger than their US counterparts when it comes to DD. In the last year I have seen 1 person, not a trucker, returned back to UK and an American commercial driver refused entry at the border.
You will be extremely fortunate to get a trucking job following a DD offence and even luckier if allowed to cross the border.
seeing as the questions were asked back in 2008 i’m not sure if it matters now to the original poster 
glenman:
seeing as the questions were asked back in 2008 i’m not sure if it matters now to the original poster
Could still be helpfull for anyone else researching though 
glenman:
seeing as the questions were asked back in 2008 i’m not sure if it matters now to the original poster
Good point,and well presented .Duh,■■■■■ to be a dumb trucker once again.
Just a quick note prompted by the word “hazmat” for anybody doing research…
BTW, thanks to glenman for pointing out that the OP asked the question back in 2008, cos it’s quite possible that I might have missed that. 
In both the UK and Ireland, “a hazmat endorsement” = an ADR licence.
ADR itself is an international agreement concerning the transport of dangerous goods by road.
The ADR agreement is currently valid in 45 (mostly European) countries including the UK and Ireland (and even Russia. 
)
The ADR driver qualification is NOT valid in the US or Canada (nor is it valid in Oz or NZ,) although it might go some way to proving to a prospective employer that a driver is familiar with the transport of dangerous goods.
I hope that helps. 