The U.S. plan to equip Mexican trucks with electronic recorders for driver logs would be a limited, temporary program undertaken because it's the only way the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can ensure that the Mexican trucks will be monitored, said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro.

Ferro, who spoke yesterday to trucking executives gathered for the annual meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association, acknowledged that the subject has been a flashpoint among carriers who do not like the idea of the U.S. spending taxpayer money on equipment for Mexican trucks.

She explained that under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. cannot require Mexican carriers to do anything that U.S. carriers are not required to do, but the agency still must provide a way to monitor those carriers for compliance with both the hours of service rules and the cabotage rules that restrict freight hauling between points in the U.S.

"We can't require them to purchase EOBRs because we don't require (U.S. carriers) to do it yet, so we propose to pay for those for a limited duration," she said. The duration would be until the pilot program is over - probably three years - or until the agency's proposed near-universal EOBR mandate takes effect, she said.

There is a precedent for this approach. In the pilot program initiated by the Bush administration, which Congress killed in 2009, FMCSA bought GPS systems for the Mexican carriers.

That program cost about $250,000, Ferro said. The budget for the EOBR program is between $500,000 and $700,000, she said.

She hinted at the large political forces that drove this decision, noting that the agreement to reopen the border to long-distance trucking is key to getting Mexico withdraw the more than $1 billion in tariffs it has levied on U.S. producers in retaliation for shutting down the prior program.

Ferro said the agency will publish its proposal for the border opening in a matter of weeks. At that point the public will have a chance to comment, before the deal is made final.

Border Program Concept

The concept for the border opening, announced earlier this month by President Obama and Mexican President Calderon, envisions a reciprocal, phased-in program that will start with Mexico reducing its tariffs by half when the final agreement is signed. The rest of the tariffs would be suspended when the first Mexican carrier is granted operating authority.

The concept contains three elements: pre-operations vetting, monitoring of operations and communications to the public and Congress. Neither hazmat carriers nor buses would be permitted.

Pre-operations vetting would include an application process in which the number of participants in the first phase of the program would be limited to ensure oversight, subject to agreement with Mexico.

Included in the vetting would be are a pre-authority safety audit in which the agency would review the Mexican carrier's safety management program and the records of drivers who would be crossing the border, including their Mexican federal and state records. The drivers would be tested for English proficiency and knowledge of U.S. traffic laws. Mexican carriers' safety performance in Mexico would be reviewed, and the audit would include inspections of the trucks for U.S. safety and emissions compliance.

Ferro noted that the audit also would cover homeland security issues, and would ensure that the Mexican carrier has insurance from a U.S. company.

The operations element of the concept provides for inspections - including inspections each time a truck crosses the border, for a period of time to be negotiated - and reviews to follow up on the initial screening review. A Mexican carrier would have to clear a Compliance Review and earn a Satisfactory Safety Rating in order to get full operating authority. Also, the agency could conduct compliance reviews of Mexican drug and alcohol testing facilities.

The communications program would include public notice and an opportunity for comment, a web site at the FMCSA home page, creation of an advisory committee and periodic reports to Congress.

Beyond Border Issues

Ferro touched on other subjects of high interest to the truckload carriers, as well.

She said that the agency recently sent warning letters to 23,000 carriers under the new CSA enforcement program to let them know that the data shows their safety performance trending in the wrong direction. It is up to the carriers that receive such letters to take remedial action. If their numbers don't show a turnaround, the agency will follow up with a safety audit and possibly a compliance review.

The agency's hours of service proposal has received what she understatedly described as "very robust commentary." She said the proposal, which is generally held in slight esteem by trucking interests, has attracted some 25,000 comments.

"We are neck deep in analyzing them," she said.

She told the trucking executives that she was "thrilled" to see their endorsement this week of the concept of electronic logging (link to today's story).

The agency is about a month away from posting a final rule on the CDL learners' permit, which will set uniform testing standards, and is still working on a training rule for entry-level drivers.

Also on the near horizon is the next step in the process of creating a national registry of certified medical examiners, she said. The eventual rule will establish a system, curriculum and testing process to certify medical examiners, and publish the names of the certified examiners in a registry.