Thread: Stop Mexican rigs from truckin' James P. Hoffa: Labor Voices

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March 9, 2007

James P. Hoffa: Labor Voices

Stop Mexican rigs from truckin'

Federal experiment ignores lack of safety and security standards


A s I drove on Interstate 94 this past weekend, my car was among countless vehicles, including quite a few tractor-trailers.

It was comforting to know that these drivers and trucks are governed by rules and regulations to ensure the driver was sufficiently rested and the truck had been properly maintained and was road-ready.

But that will change if the Bush administration has its way. Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed a dangerous experiment that would give 100 Mexican trucking firms and an unknown number of trucks full access to U.S. highways by the end of April. This decision raises major safety and national security issues.

Experiment risks safety

International trade is a key part of our economy, but quite simply, with this reckless proposal the Bush administration is playing a game of Russian roulette on America's highways. This dangerous -- and potentially catastrophic -- experiment should be halted until the numerous safety and driver-training issues are resolved.

For example, lax or nonexistent laws in Mexico make it impossible for us to know for how many hours a driver has been on the road before getting to the United States border, then crossing into our country. Our highways should not be made more dangerous by giving full access to trucks driven by drivers whose companies can work them to the point of exhaustion. Safety procedures must be established and enforced.

Although the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was intended to open our border to Mexican trucks, those rigs have been prohibited from having full access to U.S. highways until their government and industry complied with the NAFTA's safety and security standards.

Standards are lacking

Despite more than a decade to enact these changes, that has yet to happen. Those were the findings of the Department of Transportation's inspector general. His most recent report, from 2005, stated that the standards were lacking. Why is the president willing to move forward when his own inspector general has stated that Mexico cannot meet its obligations?

Last year, my union hired an independent investigative journalist to travel to Mexico and observe the conditions truckers must work under. He discovered that little had changed since his first visit in 1999, including bad equipment and the routine use of drugs to battle exhaustion.

Despite significant evidence to the contrary, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters promised that this program "will make trade with Mexico easier and keep our roads safe at the same time."

The program would make trade with Mexico easier -- and benefit the Bush administration's big-business supporters by allowing them to exploit overworked, underpaid Mexican drivers -- but it diminishes the safety of our highways. It seems that the Bush administration has again allowed its corporate agenda to run wild.

With the Dubai Ports World debacle in February 2006, we saw the administration's willingness to risk our national security in the name of helping its so-called free trade agenda. Before recklessly enacting this latest proposal, we need to determine how safety and security procedures are followed on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and answer several outstanding concerns.

While the Department of Transportation promises that all trucks coming into the country will be inspected and drivers will be scrutinized, they can't say how, exactly, that will happen.

Security is at risk

Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, doubts that can happen. She recently told BusinessWeek that we inspect less than 10 percent of Mexican trucks that enter the small commercial zone at the U.S.-Mexico border. What's more, Hersman pointed out that inspectors already have difficulty conducting safety reviews of at-risk domestic carriers. "That situation only gets worse if resources are diverted to the border," she said.

Further, the Department of Transportation has not announced how Mexican drivers will be checked against the terror watch list or whether our borders will be open to anyone with a Mexican driver's license.

By not thoroughly examining trucks, not knowing who, exactly, is driving them and still allowing a driver full access to U.S. roads, this program creates the conditions for a potentially catastrophic event -- that a truck could contain a weapon of mass destruction.

The Department of Transportation indicated that this proposal is as "narrow" as it could initiate. Yet this experiment forces the public to serve as its guinea pigs. All of us -- Mexicans and Americans -- deserve better.

James P. Hoffa is president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Mail letters to Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226, or fax them to (313) 222-6417 or e-mail them to letters@detnews.com.


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Labor Voices
Labor Voices columns are written for The News on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, Teamster President James Hoffa, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney and Michigan Education Association President Iris Salters. The News hopes to provide a forum for discussing workplace issues that are critical to a large segment of Michigan's population, whether or not they are union members. Look for Labor Voices every Friday in The News.


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