For years, Mexican big-rigs have been confined to within about a 25 mile radius of the U.S. border, where they unload freight which is then picked up by American rigs. As early as September 6th that may change under a new pilot program which would eventually allow up to 100 Mexican trucking agencies to go nationwide. It seems a program long in the making, beginning with the provisions set forth under 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement

The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement approved broader access for ground shipments from both countries but the Clinton administration never complied with the trucking provision. A special tribunal ordered the Bush administration to do so in 2001.

Several groups filed for an emergency injunction against this program earlier this week, including Public Citizen, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sierra Club, Enviromental Law Foundation, and the Brotherhood of Teamsters, Auto and Truck Drivers, Local 70. They said that the program had not met all of the safety and disclosure guidelines, although the The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled against the injunction.

According to a report released to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on August 6th, there were still several key guidelines that still needed quite a bit of work.

Improving the quality of the data used to monitor Mexican commercial driver traffic convictions in the United States: Our work determined that the system used to monitor Mexican commercial driver license convictions, the 52nd State System, still contains data inconsistencies. Enforcement officials need the data to identify drivers not permitted to operate on U.S. highways.

Ensuring adequate capacity to inspect Mexican buses: Although FMCSA, in response to our 2005 audit, implemented the Southern Border Commercial Bus Inspection Plan that identified inspection issues and strategies for addressing those issues for specific bus border crossings, other important issues have surfaced. For example, at one high-volume crossing, physical space and capacity limitations prevented inspections during high-volume holiday periods. This means that Mexican buses granted long-haul operating authority in the United States may not be inspected during busy periods.

Fully implementing FMCSA's policy on ensuring Mexican carrier compliance with Federal motor vehicle manufacturing safety standards: One mechanism Federal inspectors could use to ensure that Mexican vehicles have complied with manufacturing safety standards is to check a vehicle's identification number to identify the year of manufacture. However, FMCSA has not issued additional guidance that would make it mandatory for inspectors to check the vehicle number and record it in inspection records.

Continue focusing on Mexican carrier drug and alcohol testing issues: Mexico has no certified testing laboratories and any samples collected in Mexico must be sent to certified laboratories in the United States. Although FMCSA has taken the actions noted in our prior report, it is not clear whether the controls in place ensure that valid specimens are being collected in Mexico before being sent to a certified laboratory.

Advocates for the program say that this will lower costs for the consumers, expedite shipping times, and ease some of the strain on Mexico/U.S. relations. Opponents have brought up not only safety and environmental concerns, but the possible negative effect on U.S. truckers who may be wage cut by Mexican drivers.

American trucks will naturally be granted reciprocal access to Mexican roadways, and Canadian truckers are already operating within the U.S.

freshprncebelair

Ellicott City, MD

June 2004

SEP 05, 2007 06:19 AM

Dey tuk ur jerbs!

Heathen_Dave

Birmingham, AL

July 2005

SEP 05, 2007 09:48 AM

DhD_No_Pants said:American trucks will naturally be granted reciprocal access to Mexican roadways...

Oh good, that sounds like a fair trade.

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Teamsters Pissed About Mexican Big Rigs Hitting U.S. Highways

DhD_No_Pants

Katy, TX

May 2006

SEP 05, 2007 04:58 AM