Fast drivers

WHILE INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS traverse the continent imploring importers to get cozy with FAST, customs and immigration officials can’t keep up with the swell of FAST card applications coming in from truck drivers. And although FAST administrators are taking flak for having not enough offices or time in the day to process all the paperwork, they wish they didn’t have to return so many applications because of errors. The biggest problems: the driver hasn’t provided a five-year address and work history, security questions are left unanswered, and, primarily, the applicant has lied or omitted details about his criminal history.

Caroline Doyle, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency’s manager of communications and training for FAST, offers advice to drivers who want their applications processed more quickly:

Fill it out yourself: As a recruiting hook, many carriers are promising to help drivers get a FAST card if they sign on. Carriers are filling out applications on behalf of drivers, often with missing or improper information. “Even if someone else completes it, you’re the one who signs that application, and are legally responsible for what is being reported,” Doyle says. Drivers should fill out applications themselves, or at the very least inspect it thoroughly before it’s sent to CCRA.

Printing & Spelling 101: Applications are regularly returned because of illegible handwriting. Print clearly, Doyle says, or complete the application online at www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/business/importing/
fast/menu-e.html. This way all information is typed.

Don’t lie. A driver who’s caught providing false information about past customs seizures or criminal convictions are immediately disqualified. “We’re much nicer to people who tell us about their past indiscretions than if you lie and we find out five years ago we seized a case of booze, which in most cases would have been a forgivable offense.”

What kind of closeted skeletons give CCRA the creeps? Drug smuggling, money laundering, weapons-related offenses, or multiple convictions of even minor crimes will shut drivers out of FAST.

“We don’t deny that some people make mistakes,” Doyle says. “Minor ones, like say, getting into a barroom brawl and getting convicted of assault 10 years ago–are we going to penalize you for that? Not likely. But again, we’re only friendly if you’re on the up and up from the start.”