NAFTA Trucking and Cross Border Movement. NCSL 2007 Fall Forum

Transcription

1 NAFTA Trucking and Cross Border Movement NCSL 2007 Fall Forum

2 NAFTA Cross-Border Movement Since Passage of NAFTA, Mexican Motor Carriers & Drivers are still not able to comply with U.S. Laws & Regulations & the Security & Welfare of Americans on our Nation s Highways. Currently, Mexican Carriers are allowed to Operate in a Border Commercial Zone that extends approximately 25 Miles into the U.S. Every Year Mexico Domiciled Commercial Motor Vehicles Cross into the U.S. about 4.5 Million Times.

3 Promises FMCSA announced Pilot Project to allow up to 100 Mexico Domiciled Motor Carriers to Operate throughout the U.S. Promise to have Mexican Carriers & Drivers Comply with ALL applicable U.S. laws & regulations including laws concerned with Motor Carrier Safety, Customs, Immigration, Vehicle Registration & Taxation, & Fuel Taxation

4 Drug & Alcohol Testing Concerns Drug & Alcohol Testing Procedures in Mexico are NOT Reliable. Testing of Mexican Drivers before they reach the U.S. is still Unresolved. Mexico still has NO Certified Laboratory for Specimen Analysis.

5 Drug & Alcohol Testing Concerns Mexico does NOT Require Drug & Alcohol Testing of Truck Drivers as under U.S. law. Samples Collected at the U.S. Border may prove more Reliable but letting Drivers Know When & Where they will be Tested Defeats the Purposes of Random Testing. There needs to be Scientifically Valid Random Drug Testing.

6 Data Base Accuracy The 52 nd State System database is used to Store Records of Violations by Mexican Operators. Problems in Data Collection & entry in the 4 Border States Required Each State to Establish a Corrective Action Plan that is Still Being Implemented.

7 Data Base Accuracy Mexico s LIFIS database is suppose to maintain Current Records of ALL valid, expired, restricted & disqualified Mexican Commercial Licenses (LFC). U.S. Inspectors do NOT have full access to LIFIS database but can check status of driver s LFC s presented at Border.

8 Hours of Service In addition to NOT maintaining HOS Records, Mexico has NO enforced HOS Requirements. Drivers can operate for an Unlimited Number of Hours within Mexico & arrive at the U.S. Border Fatigued. Log Books to Record Driving Time were only Required of Mexican Drivers 2 Years ago, & that Requirement is Loosely Enforced.

9 Hours of Service Mexico has NO separate, specific HOS Requirements or Maximum Driving Limits for Commercial Drivers. According to FMCSA, it has NO Jurisdiction over Driving that takes place in Mexico. Even if U.S. Inspectors could determine from the Driver s Logbook that the Driver would be Violating U.S. HOS Requirements, Inspectors CANNOT use this info to enforce U.S. HOS Limits for driving time that takes place in Mexico.

10 Free & Secure Trade (FAST) The FAST Card System that will be used at the Mexican Border will allow a Mexican Truck to be cleared in about 15 Seconds. It Requires that the Drivers participating in the Program undergo a Criminal History Record Check. The TSA is proposing that Mexican Drivers be checked against the U.S. Criminal data base because the Mexican System is almost Non-Existent.

11 Cabotage Laws NAFTA, Customs & Immigration related Regulations RESTRICT Foreign-Based Trucks & Drivers to Carrying International Shipments between their Home Countries & Individual Points in the U.S. These Regulations also Prohibit these same Trucks & Drivers from moving Domestic Loads from Point to Point within the U.S. Unfortunately, once in the U.S. these Trucks & Drivers will encounter virtually NO Enforcement of these Regulations.

12 Safety Concerns FMCSA is Required to Provide Evidence that the Pilot Program will achieve a Level of Safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety that would otherwise occur if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations were followed without change. FMCSA has NOT & CANNOT show that the Pilot Program provides Equivalent or Greater Level of Safety.

13 Differences of U.S. & Mexican CDL s Commercial Drivers have to pass physical & medical requirements to obtain their CDL or LFC, the standards for an LFC & whether exemptions to those are permitted have NOT been published by FMCSA. CDL Drivers are subject to Disqualification for Convictions of Listed Offenses that occur when driving a Non-Commercial Vehicle, NO such Restriction exists for LFC holders. A CDL Driver in AZ may Lose his/her CDL for a DUI in their Personal Car But an LFC Driver with a DUI in Mexico can Continue to Drive in the U.S.

14 Cross Border Movement State s Response States like CO have taken action in regard to the Pilot Program by passing Joint Resolution urging the Suspension of the Pilot Program until Foreign Trucking Companies & their Drivers Operating in the U.S. be held to the SAME Safety & Regulatory Standards as U.S. Counterparts. They CANNOT Support this Program because it establishes an Unfair Method of Competition in Favor of Foreign Companies.

15 Congress s Response In an overwhelming Bi-Partisan way, Congress has Repeatedly passed Legislation and Urged the President himself, to NOT go forward with any Cross-Border Programs until the serious issues that have been raised are addressed.

16 Summation The Proponents of Opening Up the Border attempt to lay out an Impressive Public Relations Campaign to Assure the American Public that Mexican Trucks & Drivers will meet ALL U.S. Safety Requirements. However, there will be NO meeting of these Requirements without Adequate Enforcement & Oversight

17 Summation Even with Enforcement, there seems to be a Willingness on the part of Mexican Carriers & Drivers to Ignore some of the Basic Requirements for Operating in the Commercial Zone. Of the top ten Mexican Driver Out- of-service Violations, 22.62% are for operating a Commercial Motor Vehicle without a CDL or LFC a rather simple but Necessary Requirement to ensure safety.

18 Summation On the U.S. side, there has been a tremendous investment in Resources at Taxpayer s expense to allow for the Inspection of Mexican Trucks at the Border. But laying out Requirements & Regulations on Paper that Stipulate that Mexican Drivers will be subject to the same Dug & Alcohol Testing Program as U.S. Drivers, & that Mexican Drivers MUST Properly Record their hours behind the wheel in log books does not necessarily make it so.

19 Summation Finally, there will be a strong temptation by Unscrupulous Employers to capitalize on Lower Wage Mexican Drivers & entice them into carrying Domestic Cargo in the U.S. This occurs now, as Mexican Trucks have been caught over the years operating illegally in more than 25 States.

20 NAFTA Trucking and Cross Border Movement NCSL 2007 Fall Forum