Mexican trucking program proves locally unpopular

August 10, 2008 - 10:43PM
By Sean Gaffney/The Monitor



McALLEN - A looming Congressional showdown over a controversial program that allows Mexican trucks free rein on U.S. highways threatens one local company's plans.



Harlingen-based Truss World Inc. is the only Rio Grande Valley company enrolled in the Mexican truck pilot program, which allows Mexican trucks to travel anywhere in the United States.



Usually, Mexican trucks are limited to an area about 25 miles north of the border. Cargo destined to go farther must be offloaded and transferred to U.S. trucks. Truss World owner George Long hoped helping to bypass the middleman would increase efficiency and reduce shipping costs.



But fierce and vocal opposition from trucking unions and some politicians has made clients and trucking companies reluctant to invest in the project. For Long, the opposition has meant none of his clients will agree to use the program.



"I called all these people and begged them to get into the program," he said. "The value of it hadn't hit them yet. I'm already ahead of the game, so I'm just going to stay ahead of the game."



UNSAFE DRIVERS?



When the Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration announced last Monday it would extend the project past the scheduled end date next month, they ignited a flurry of criticism and put the Bush Administration at odds with some Congressional leaders who vowed to push legislation designed to kill the project when Congress resumes in September.



After the program was launched last year, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and other interest groups filed lawsuits in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Officials still wait for a ruling in the case.



Opponents argued lower Mexican safety standards would put American drivers at risk and that cheap Mexican labor threatens U.S. truck driving jobs. Critics also cited a lack of English proficiency as a reason to keep Mexican truck drivers confined to the border. Trading safety for lower prices, they said, is absurd.



"By that argument why don't you get rid of all highway rules," said Leslie Miller, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters. "We'll all get cheap T-shirts."



Led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, the Democratic-controlled Congress has repeatedly tried to choke funding for the program, which was originally approved as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement that President Clinton signed into law.



Some thought it was finished when Congress restricted funding to "establish" a cross-border trucking program in December. The legislation failed on a technicality when the Bush Administration argued the program started before the law and was therefore excluded from the prohibition.



More recently, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation to end the program and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to bar funding for the program in next year's budget.



LOW TURNOUT



The Bush Administration has countered that Mexican trucks participating in the program are inspected with greater scrutiny than their U.S. counterparts. All participating Mexican trucks and companies are thoroughly screened before they enter the program, said John Hill, a Bush appointee and top administrator with the federal motor safety administration.



"These trucks and these drivers are the most scrutinized vehicles in the country," he said, adding Mexican drivers are held to the same standards as U.S. drivers.



Furthermore, Hill said, the program is mandated by NAFTA. In 2001, a NAFTA dispute resolution panel accosted the United States for violating the agreement's provisions. The agreement mandated Mexican trucks have full access to U.S. roads by 2000.



A year after the program began, participation is far below the 100 companies per country the agency expected.



So far, 27 Mexican companies have participated with some 104 trucks while only 10 U.S. companies have participated with a fleet of 52 trucks.



Officials argued the low participation prevented a full statistical analysis of the program. That prompted the extension, Hill said.



"The longer it goes, the better it will be. These companies who are doing it are getting a foothold in with certain shippers and are able to reduce the cost," Hill said. "The problem is the opposition is going to use every tactic to stall it."



EXPANDING BUSINESS



Stage Coach Cartage & Distribution L.P. in El Paso is the only other Texas-based company participating in the project. Operating seven trucks, the company routinely ships plastics and other products across the border, owner Scott McClaughlin said.



The program has been successful and he hopes the project will emerge unscathed from the latest round of Congressional wrangling. If it ends, however, the company's investment was too small to cause that great of a loss.



"It's something that over time will continue to grow," McClaughlin said. "It wasn't going to dramatically change how business was done."



At Truss World, the operation is dramatically smaller. Long, a Houston-based lawyer, occasionally drives the company's one truck across the country himself.



With the program, however, he's sure that expansion is inevitable. On a recent trip he unloaded cargo on the U.S. side, drove across the border and told the Mexican company that would ultimately receive the goods he could have delivered the product directly and cheaper.



"You do a lot of talking and only one deal in 10 makes," Long said. "(But) these guys are all very, very anxious to break down that barrier."

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