Major Developments on the Mexican Truck Plan

In our March 5th edition we reported on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) plan to begin a demonstration project that will allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies unrestricted access to U.S. highways. (See 03/05/2007 DOT to Allow Mexican Trucks in the U.S.)

The project is meant to be the first step toward the long-delayed full-scale implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, (NAFTA). NAFTA had called upon all 3 partners (the U.S., Mexico and Canada) to remove cross-border access restrictions to each other’s trucks by the year 2000.

The DOT demonstration project has been met with fierce opposition from a variety of different sources. Public interest safety groups, driver’s unions, environmentalists, smaller motor carriers, independent drivers, and the newly elected Democratic congress have all embraced efforts aimed at stopping the project before it gets started. There has even been a move in the Mexican Senate to delay the project.

Currently the DOT is facing two lawsuits against the project. One is an attempt to gather information while the second is an effort to stop the project. The first suit was filed March 13th by the Public Citizen Litigation Group acting on behalf of the non-profit Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. That suit seeks to force the DOT to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request that was initially filed more than five months earlier.

The second suit alleges that the DOT intentionally misclassified the program as a “demonstration project” rather than a “pilot program” which would have subject the Department to federal laws requiring public notice and comment periods. This suit was filed jointly by the Teamsters Union, Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association and the Environmental Law Foundation. If a court determines that the “demonstration project” is indeed a “pilot program” as defined by federal law, the program would be put on hold until the DOT meets the statutory requirements.

Bills have been introduced in Congress seeking to delay or stop the program. One is an amendment to the Iraq war-spending bill and would require the program be stopped until earlier congressional mandates are met, and U.S. trucks are granted the same access as Mexican trucks. On Monday, May 1st President Bush vetoed this bill. It is not clear whether the Mexican truck amendment will remain attached to any compromise bill that is worked out between the White House and the Congress.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) has also introduced the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007 which would require that Mexican trucks and drivers be held to the same standards as their U.S. counterparts. It would also require that databases on Mexican drivers, equivalent to those on U.S. drivers, be created and accessible to U.S. enforcement authorities. The effect would be to put the pilot program on hold until the bill’s conditions were met.

Both the Senate and House have held hearings on the DOT plan during the past few weeks. The hearings were often contentious with both Republican and Democratic legislators expressing skepticism about the plan.

In a surprise move the Mexican Senate voted on April 25th to negotiate a delay of the program with the U.S. until July so that a board of Mexican government officials and business executives could be created to oversee the implementation of the program. The Mexican Senate also called on the Mexican Secretary of Transportation to insure that Mexican trucking concerns received equal benefits to U.S. trucking firms.

As of now more than 800 Mexican trucking companies have applied to participate in the program. So far 30 have passed the required safety inspections. Only 16 U.S. motor carriers have requested Mexican access.

In response to the rapidly unfolding events concerning the program, the Bush Administration has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the plan. At the same time, in what appeared to be an effort to address at least some of the concerns raised by opponents, the DOT published a notice and request for public comments about the program, in the May 1st Federal Register.

In the Federal Register Notice, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) gave its most complete description of the demonstration project to date. Included in that description were details on the application, approval, and inspection procedures that would be used for Mexican carriers participating in the program. In addition the agency also outlined how it would monitor and enforce compliance with DOT regulations during the course of the program, as well as how it plans to evaluate the program upon its conclusion.

The notice also includes a request for comments from the public as well as industry stakeholders. The comment period being allowed is unusually short, lasting only 30 days from May 1st through May 31st . Information on how to submit comments is provided at the end of this article.

As this article was being written the DOT made two surprise announcements regarding the cross-border program. Both appeared aimed at addressing some of the major concerns raised by the program’s critics. In the first, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said that an agreement had been reached with the Mexican government that will allow U.S. trucks to enter into Mexico at the same time Mexican trucks begin rolling into the U.S. The lack of simultaneous entry had been a major objection by many in Congress.

The second announcement was made by FMCSA administrator John Hill in a radio interview on “Land Line Now” a trucking program carried on XM Satellite Radio. Hill announced that the cross-border program would be formally delayed and not commence before the end of the 30-day public comment period announced in the Federal Register Notice. He did not however announce a specific starting date for the program.

You can comment on the cross border demonstration project by going to the DOT Docket Management System at: http://dms.dot.gov Follow the instructions provided and use DOT DMS Docket Number FMCSA-2007-28055, or;

You may mail comments to: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001

***Newsflash*** - In a late-breaking development the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to restrict the total number of Mexican trucks involved in the pilot program to no more than 1000. In addition the House bill sets up an independent panel to evaluate the test program and requires Mexican companies prove that their drivers are proficient in English.