"Deeply concerned" by the House of Representative's move last week to block the access of Mexican trucks under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the American Trucking Associations last week sent a letter to Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott urging implementation.

"ATA strongly supports the Administration in its efforts to guarantee the safe operations of trucks from Mexico which operate in the United States, and to open Mexico to U.S. truck fleets," reads the letter.
The letter addresses the often-repeated accusation in the general press and in the political arena that the U.S. Department of Transportation will wait up to 18 months to take unsafe trucks from Mexico off the road.
"In fact, the process used to take unsafe trucks and/or drivers off the road is roadside inspections. The additional funds requested by the Administration for the border are primarily for increased roadside inspections at the border. The 18-month period is the maximum amount of time DOT might take to conduct audits of the Mexican trucking companies. During audits, government officials review paperwork, including drivers' logbooks, truck and trailer maintenance records, insurance coverage, tax payments, etc. While a company could conceivably lose its certificate to operate any trucks through an audit, the individual trucks and drivers about which some are concerned are addressed in the real world by roadside inspections - not by audits."
At the same time, ATA filed comments on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's proposals on how it would handle the regulatory and safety process of allowing Mexican trucks to operate beyond the existing border commercial zones, as called for in the long-delayed NAFTA treaty. It calls cross-border trucking today "an archaic and convoluted system that does not represent an efficient, effective and safe system for moving cargo across the U.S.-Mexico border."
The ATA had several issues and concerns with the FMCSA's proposal.
The association questioned the agency's plan to establish two separate types of operating authorities for Mexican carriers. It said the two different applications appeared to be nearly identical, with the main difference being trip insurance for companies operating along the border vs. permanent insurance coverage for those companies planning to operate further into the U.S. "All applying Mexican motor carriers should be treated equally, no matter where they plan to operate in the United States," says ATA.
Another concern involved "burdensome" applications. ATA says the FMCSA wants Mexican carriers to provide more information than those for new U.S. applicants. "Such requirements could be construed as violating 'national treatment' and 'most favored nation' standards," the ATA writes.
Those standards also could be violated by FMCSA's proposed safety monitoring system, ATA says. Under the proposed rule, after being granted U.S. authority and beginning operations in this country, a Mexican motor carrier would be required to pass the safety require within an 18-month period. Currently, there is no similar review for U.S. nationals applying for operating authority.