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 Editorials | Issues | September 2007 
Mexican Trucks Show Better Safety Records Than U.S. Counterparts
 Paul M. Krawzak - Copley News Service
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 |  | It's consistent with what we've been saying all along. It shows that the Mexican carriers have responded to those safety requirements and become as safe or safer than what U.S. carriers are.
- John Hill |  | |
Washington Mexican commercial carriers that have enjoyed a little publicized right to send trucks beyond a restricted U.S. border zone in recent years have a better safety record than their U.S. counterparts, federal transportation officials said Tuesday.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the carriers, who number 859, had only 1.21 percent of their drivers removed from service after they failed roadside inspections between 2003 and 2006.
By comparison, the share of all U.S. truck drivers placed out of service after failing inspections such as, for not possessing a valid driver license was 7.06 percent for the same period.
The figures, which are part of a larger study, are significant because they provide backing for the Bush administration's contention that a controversial pilot program allowing pre-approved Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States is safe.
It's consistent with what we've been saying all along, said John Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It shows that the Mexican carriers have responded to those safety requirements and become as safe or safer than what U.S. carriers are.
The agency launched the pilot program less than two weeks ago, but it is under assault from the House and Senate, which have passed separate versions of legislation to shut down funding for the program. Final legislation to end the program has not yet won passage in Congress.
The pilot would allow up to 100 pre-approved Mexican carriers to send trucks throughout the United States for a year to test the safety of cross-border trucking.
U.S. carriers also would receive authority to travel in Mexico for the first time as a step toward opening the border to commercial traffic as required under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Opponents of the program argue that Mexican truck drivers are used to inferior safety standards and lax enforcement and will pose a danger on U.S. highways.
The Transportation Department's figures are deceptive, said Jerry Donaldson, senior research director at Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which opposes the pilot.
Since the majority of Mexican carriers that have long haul authority are at least partially owned by American companies, they are more likely than other Mexican truckers to be familiar with U.S. laws, he said.
And because of the fact that they know and have known for some years now that they are under scrutiny, I am not at all surprised that they would have a slightly better safety record, he said.
The 859 Mexican carriers that have authority to travel beyond a 25-mile wide commercial zone on the U.S. side of the border are part of a select group.
Since 1982, most Mexican carriers have been barred from traveling beyond the border zone. However, in the 1990s, the federal government granted several hundred Mexican carriers with part-U.S. ownership the right to travel in certain states.
Most of the 859 fit into that category, Hill said.
Three of the 859 retain grandfathered operating authority that they possessed before the border was closed in 1982, he said.
U.S. transportation officials released the safety figures in response to reporters who questioned the record of the Mexican drivers several weeks ago.
The study also compared the safety record of 6,340 Mexican carriers that are limited to the U.S. border zone. From 2003 to 2006, this group had a driver out of service rate of 1.66 percent better than the U.S. truckers but not as good as long haul Mexican carriers.
The long haul Mexicans also had the best record for trucks taken out of service as a result of equipment violations.
The long haul truckers had 21.29 percent trucks removed from service, compared to 23.5 percent for U.S. carriers. Mexican border carriers had 22.5 percent of trucks denied permission to drive after inspections that revealed violations. |
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