Thread: US-Mexico truck pilot opponents rally as program winds down

US-Mexico truck pilot opponents rally as program winds down

Mark Szakonyi, Senior Editor | Oct 02, 2014 12:31PM EDT

The U.S. federal government won’t tell Congress until later this month the results of a controversial pilot program tracking Mexican trucking companies hauling goods across the border, but opponents are already railing against continuing or expanding the initiative.

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association said the three-year pilot failed to include enough Mexican trucking companies and the majority of the data came from only two carriers. The controversy around the pilot highlights the broader challengesMexico and U.S. continue to face in implementing trucking liberalization elements contained in the North American Free Trade Agreement 20 years after its passage.

NAFTA allowed freedom of cross-border trucking but political opposition from Teamsters and trucking groups have prevented the clause from being implemented. The continuing restrictions mean that northbound cargo, for example, must be cross-docked from a Mexico truck to a U.S. truck, adding time and cost, as opposed to driving straight through to an ultimate U.S. destination where the Mexican trucker could then theoretically pick a southbound load back to Mexico.

“The data generated by the program clearly shows that the program should not be renewed or made permanent,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer wrote in an Oct. 1 letter to the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “What we would like to know is the agency’s plan going forward and we request that they be transparent about communications with Mexico and analysis of their data, or lack thereof.”

When asked by JOC.com for a response to those questions, FMCSA spokesman Marissa Padilla said the agency is reviewing more than 5,000 truck and driver inspections, “with the goal of developing a path forward to ensure safety on our highways while continuing to fulfill our NAFTA obligations.” She said the pilot by law must end by Oct. 14, while OOIDA indicated the pilot ended Wednesday.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration originally said 46 Mexican trucking companies would take part in the pilot, but there have been only 13 participants. The program was set to encompass at least 4,100 inspections of Mexican trucks entering U.S. highways, and as of mid-July, there were more than 5,175 inspections, Spencer said. But two Mexican trucking companies accounted for 81 percent of those inspections and 90 percent of border crossings, making the data biased and not reflecting the level of safety within the Mexican trucking industry, he said.

“More alarming is to note that Mexican motor carriers are not being placed out of service for violations that would warrant such action nor are they being placed out of service at the same rate as U.S.-domiciled trucks and/or drivers for similar violations,” Spencer said.

A congressional report released in January said the rate of Mexican trucking companies placed “out of service” in the pilot was lower than the U.S. average. Concerns that the expansion of the pilot would lead to a flood of Mexican trucking companies across the U.S. border are overblown, Federico Dominguez, director general of Mexico’s Federal Motor Transport agency, told JOC.com in April.

Few Mexican trucking companies want to haul goods any farther than the cross-docks in U.S border towns, largely because it’s tricky to find loads to haul back. Trucking companies waste fuel and time without so-called backhaul loads. Under NAFTA, the Mexican drivers can’t move freight from one U.S. destination to another, and U.S. drivers are hemmed in by the same rules when operating in Mexico and Canada.

U.S. trucking companies aren’t scrambling to haul goods farther than Mexico border towns, either. Only 41 U.S. drivers and 67 vehicles were available in the pilot, as of mid-April.

http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy..._20141002.html

Few Mexican trucking companies want to haul goods any farther than the cross-docks in U.S border towns, largely because it’s tricky to find loads to haul back. Trucking companies waste fuel and time without so-called backhaul loads. Under NAFTA, the Mexican drivers can’t move freight from one U.S. destination to another, and U.S. drivers are hemmed in by the same rules when operating in Mexico and Canada.

Mexican Trucks Entering US Cited for 1 Million Violations

By Bryan Llenas
Published August 23, 2011Fox News Latino

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  File Photo: Mario Leal, a U.S. Department of Transportation border inspector, explains his evaluation of a Mexican driver's big rig truck in Laredo, TX. The D.O.T. inspectors check trucks for safety violations as they enter the United States from Mexico. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers) (GETTY IMAGES)
  
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  385550 13: Jose Cortez, U.S. Department of Transportation border inspector, inspects a truck from Mexico February 14, 2001 in Laredo, Texas. The D.O.T. inspectors check trucks for safety violations as they enter the United States from Mexico. The Bush administration has indicated that it would reverse a Clinton administration policy and uphold the North American Free Trade Agreement by allowing Mexican trucks to haul goods throughout the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers)
  

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Inspectors from the Texas Department of Public Safety have found a million violations in trucks coming from Mexico into El Paso, Texas between 2007 and 2011, according to a report by the El Paso Times. The report comes just weeks before Mexican trucks will be allowed to begin shipping long-haul freight into U.S. territory.

The statistics, obtained by Fox News Latino, show that between the fiscal years of 2007 and the first six months of 2011 the state completed 1.2 million inspections at the El Paso state facilities by the Bridge of Americas and the Zaragoza International Bridge. Inspections led to 1,004,213 violations including brake problems, defective lights, and flat tires.

According to the El Paso Times, the violations found by U.S. officials, many of them repeat offenses, caused 31,519 trucks and 625 drivers to be placed out of service during this time period.

The data comes months after a bilateral agreement was signed earlier this month which will allow Mexican trucks to begin shipping long-haul freight far into U.S. territory. Up to now, Mexican trucks could enter the United States but were restricted to a narrow border zone.

Critics, led by U.S. labor groups like the Teamsters union, say the statistics only reinforce their stance that the new cross-border trucking program will put lives in danger on America's highways.

“This report confirms what we have been saying for years – Mexican trucking companies and their fleets are not held to the same stringent safety standards as American carriers," said Jim Hoffa, general president of Teamsters, to Fox News Latino. "Until they meet every safety, training and environmental standard that our trucking companies meet, we should not allow these unsafe Mexican trucks to drive freely through our country.”

State Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, told the El Paso Times that the number of violations for the trucks from Mexico is in line with U.S. industry standards. He also assured that the trucks undergo inspections in Mexico and the United States.

"They are either no worse than U.S. trucks or better in some cases," he said.

Regarding the amount of violations among Mexican trucks a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said, "It’s a big number but it’s not out of line when compared to our inspection of American vehicles."

The U.S. Transportation Department has assured that the new deal will put safety first and lift tariffs on more than $2 billion in U.S. manufactured goods and agricultural products while "providing opportunities to increase U.S. exports to Mexico and expanding job creation."

In an attempt to assure the safety of the program, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released the requirements that Mexican trucks and their drivers will have to specifically follow. Under the program, all trucks entering the United States will be equipped with electronic onboard recorders which track how many hours the trucks are in service. The recorders will be paid for by the Department of Transportation at a cost of $2.5 million from the federal Highway Trust Fund. All drivers will have to pass safety reviews, drug tests, and be required to read and speak the English language sufficiently to understand highway traffic signs and signals.

Mexico can demand the same requirements of US drivers entering their territory as well.

Some like Bill Graves, the President and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations, believe the new requirements are enough to ensure the safety of Mexican trucks on the road.

“American Trucking Associations welcomes this latest step in improving the efficiency of trucking and trade at our southern border," Graves said in a July press release. "We also note that Mexican fleets participating in the program will be bound by the same rules and regulations applicable to American carriers, and we are pleased that the agreement allows for U.S. carriers to compete in Mexico."

Trucks transport roughly $275 billion worth of goods - 70 percent of the total - that pass between the two countries annually, according to a report by the wire service EFE. The prospective accord is expected to create savings of up to $675 million on cross-border shipping costs.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/new...s-report-says/

Border crossings (CANADA AND MEXICO) also included 10.7 million trucks, 320,000 buses, and 37,000 trains in 2012.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/more-than-1...2012-a-293386/

We need to end this horrible and ill conceived Mexican truck program right away. We need to cancel it and cancel it for good!

W