DOT Unveils Safety Details of Mexican Truck Program

This story appears in the April 18 print edition of Transport Topics.

The Transportation Department said its recently unveiled three-year pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to enter the United States combines multiple safety-related steps with a new approach to determine the level of participation.

DOT’s release of details in an April 13 Federal Register notice sets a target of 4,100 vehicle inspections, designed to test the safety of Mexican trucks, instead of establishing a number of carrier participants.

“The current study focuses on measuring violation rates,” which are more frequent than crashes that were used to measure Mexican truck safety in a 2007 demonstration program, the notice said. That program was halted in March 2009 when Congress yanked the funding.

The new program, previously announced by President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, allows the Mexican truck entry in exchange for Mexico’s eventual suspension of retaliatory tariffs that cost U.S. companies about $2.4 billion annually.

DOT’s announcement did not give a target date for starting the program, but a spokesman said the program would begin as soon as possible after the comment period is completed. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis with no cap on the number of participants.

It also did not specify a type of recording device that must be on the trucks, saying a “global positioning system and/or electronic on board recording device” would be acceptable.

The agency allocated $2.5 million to install electronic devices, a move that triggered a storm of protests from U.S. drivers and fleets.

Domestic haulers are angry because they would have to pay for the devices under a new federal proposal, while Mexican fleets would get them for free.

The $2.5 million is the three-year program’s cost for electronic onboard recorders, with cost per unit currently estimated between $2,000 and $2,500, including installation, the spokesman said.

The logging devices are just one aspect of the safety focus in DOT’s Mexico proposal, which is open to public comment through May 13.

“Mexico-domiciled motor carriers participating in this program will be required to comply with the existing motor-carrier safety regulatory regime, plus certain additional requirements,” the notice stated.

The safety standards that Mexican trucks must meet include a multistage program for operating authority, DOT said, including a 28-page application.

Before authority will be granted, carriers also must pass an 11-step safety check, including acceptable hours-of-service compliance and drug and alcohol testing plans.

Fleets that clear the initial hurdles will enter a first stage with provisional operating authority and inspections each time trucks enter the United States.

The second stage requires a DOT performance evaluation and a formal compliance review. If those steps are successfully completed, the final step would be permanent operating authority.

Mexican trucks also will have to comply with all federal and state environmental laws.

Fleets would have to have U.S.-issued insurance, and drivers would need Mexican commercial licenses.

Other safety steps include training inspectors about the pilot program’s procedures and a Department of Homeland Security review.

DOT also said no Mexican carrier will be able to carry hazardous materials.

Those safety steps could be an attempt a counter to protests by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters union, which regularly criticize Mexican truck safety and urge Congress to stop Mexican trucks from operating in the United States.

Describing himself as “infuriated,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said the Obama administration must reconsider its plan or Congress “must step in again.”

On the other hand, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves welcomed the move, saying, “This announcement is good news for the U.S. businesses that have been hurt by Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs.”

During the earlier pilot program, just 29 carriers participated, although the program was intended to include 100. Inspections during the program were infrequent because 85% of trips were confined to a 25-mile border zone where trucks from Mexico already were allowed.

By comparison, there are nearly 8,000 fleets that operate in the border zone, and they make 4.5 million trips across the border annually.

DOT said it believed the new inspection target could be reached if 46 trucks made an average of one border crossing a week during the pilot program.

But John Hill, a former FMCSA administrator who is an Indiana-based consultant, said he doubted more than 29 carriers would enter the program, making it difficult to effectively evaluate its success.

“With the uncertainty that the program has had in the past, people are reluctant to make the transition from what they’re doing now to these longhaul, point-to-point runs,” Hill said. “You just don’t do that over-night. You’ve got to have some stability; you’ve got to have customers.”

Hill also said insurance companies believe they will have trouble gathering data they need to write policies.

“U.S. insurance companies are really reticent to sign on without having full descriptive driver records and crash records from these people in Mexico,” Hill said.

Staff reporter Eric Miller contributed to this report.