• 25
  • August
    2011

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced an agreement last month to allow Mexican trucks to carry freight in the United States. Critics of the program immediately expressed safety concerns because Mexican trucks are not regulated as carefully as American trucks.

The critics included members of Congress. Representatives Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Duncan Hunter of California expressed doubt that U.S. regulators will be able to adequately inspect and monitor Mexican trucks. Those inspections, after all, are important in preventing truck accidents.

Mexican trucking companies who want to be in the program are required to submit an application to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. FMCSA administrator Anne Ferro says that agency will conduct a thorough inspection of each truck and truck driver seeking to participate.

This will include a review of drivers' records. Mexican drivers will also have to be in compliance with American limitations on the number of hours that drivers can spend on the road within given time periods.

Ferro points out that the program is an extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was approved in the 1990s. "The United States is obligated under NAFTA to lift geographic limitations on trucking," she said. We fully comply with every aspect of the law."

Still, concerns remain. It remains to be seen whether proper safety inspections will occur in both countries. And the stakes are high, as even a cursory look at the data suggest. Over 3000 people are killed nationally every year in large truck accidents, and over 50,000 are injured.

Source: "Mexican trucks to haul freight on U.S. roads," USA Today, 8-2-11