Bunk LedgerCross-border checklist, United States and Canada (2026)
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Crossing with a truck is a carrier process and a border-agency process. This note is the short version for a driver who wants to know which official page to open. It is not legal advice, not a broker's instruction, and not a promise that a particular booth will ask for a particular paper.
Check the official pages before the trip:
What to have in reach
FAST, in one paragraph
FAST is a joint trusted-trader program run by CBSA and CBP for commercial drivers. The public eligibility points are: citizen or permanent resident of Canada or the United States, 18 or older, a valid licence, admissible to both countries, and approval by both countries. A dedicated lane is available only when everyone in the vehicle has a valid FAST card and the load, the carrier, and the importer qualify. The fee changes. Check the official page for the current fee. Do not budget from a number you remember.
Driver pages:
Electronic manifest, high level
On a phone, this table moves sideways. The first column stays put.
| Direction | System | What a driver should assume | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Into Canada | ACI / eManifest, highway | The carrier transmits cargo and conveyance data electronically before the truck arrives | CBSA requirements and highway cargo and conveyance |
| Into the United States | ACE truck manifest | The manifest is submitted before arrival at a land border. The time window is on the CBP page | ACE manifest documentation and truck manifest in the portal |
CBSA's memorandum on highway cargo is D3-4-2. The carrier portal menu is on the CBSA eManifest portal. If a sentence here and the agency page disagree, the agency page wins. We are not quoting a minute cutoff, because a cutoff copied from an old PDF is how drivers get a false sense of the rule.
These photographs are crossings. They are not a picture of the documents you need.
Hours rules on each side of the line are a different note: hours of service in the US and Canada. The device in the truck is ELD basics.
What to have in reach before the booth
The carrier's filing and the official pages decide the crossing. This list is what a driver can physically hold so the booth is not a search through the bunk. It is not a time limit. eManifest and ACE windows are printed on the CBSA and CBP pages and they change. Open those pages rather than a number you remember from last year. The Canada collection links CBSA, the ACI/eManifest menu, CBP, and the ACE truck manifest.
In the folder, before you roll toward the bridge:
- Identification the carrier told you to carry, where your hand finds it.
- The bills and any seal note for this load, not last week's load.
- The FAST card if you are in the program. FAST is voluntary. Not having it is not a moral failure. It is a different lane.
- The device the carrier uses for the hours, and the knowledge of which country's list it is on. The ELD page is why a US certification is not automatically the Canadian list.
- A pen.
Ask who files the manifest, carrier or broker, and what you are supposed to say if the officer asks whether it was sent. Do not guess a filing you did not make. If the paper in the window is not the paper on the dashboard, stop and call before you are at the booth if you can. A mismatch is a phone call, not a creative explanation.
Food in the cab is still food. The Canadian stops note is what survives a warm cab. It is not an agriculture rule. If an officer asks about food, answer what you have. Do not treat a website as the admissibility list.
Hours do not pause because the bridge was slow. The hours page points at both official texts. Fuel on the far side is whatever the pump says. The calculator switches to kilometres, L/100 km, and C$ when you choose Canada. It does not convert the exchange rate.
Skip a printed "complete border kit" from a forum, a remembered minute cutoff, and any advice to say you have paperwork you do not have. The official page and the carrier's desk are the two calls that matter.
| In reach | Confirm before you arrive |
|---|---|
| ID the carrier named | Who filed the manifest |
| This load's bills and seals | That the dashboard matches the filing |
| FAST card, if you are in it | That you know it is voluntary |
| ELD the carrier chose | Which country's list it is on |
| A pen | The official page, not a remembered cutoff |
Conclusion
Know which country you are entering, know that the manifest is an electronic filing the carrier sends ahead of the truck, and know that FAST is an optional lane with its own eligibility. The rest of the paperwork is on canada.ca, cbp.gov, and the packet your carrier gave you.
FAQ
Do I need a FAST card to enter Canada or the United States with a truck?
No. FAST is a voluntary trusted-traveler program. The lane has extra conditions, which are on the CBSA and CBP pages linked above.
How many minutes before arrival do I have to send the eManifest?
This page does not print that number. Use the current CBSA or CBP page. The window is their rule, not ours.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a pointer to the official pages and a reminder to follow the carrier's process.