Mexican trucking companies that win authority to operate in the U.S. may end up maintaining two safety management systems. According to Dave DeCarme, head of DOT’s Maritime, Surface, and Facilitation Division, the U.S. system is substantially different
from Mexico’s.
"Our system has evolved over 40 years," he said. "Over the past five years there has been a lot of convergence with our own system based on our work with Mexico, but the systems remain different in many ways."
One difference is in drug and alcohol testing. Mexican bus drivers are subject to daily testing – a stricter standard than applied to U.S. truck and bus drivers – but Mexican truck drivers are not tested at all.
More than that, DeCarme said, Mexico’s system of carrier oversight and inspections, as well as its automated data capabilities, are significantly different from the United States.
Many Mexican companies already have experience with U.S. regulations. The approximately 8,500 Mexican operations that now provide drayage services across the border into U.S. commercial zones are required to meet all U.S. rules.
But according to DeCarme, DOT intends to raise the bar for applicants who want to serve the interior states. The U.S. will require considerably more information from them than it does for commercial zone operators.
The "convergence" DeCarme mentioned refers to an ongoing DOT education and outreach program with Mexican fleets. For the past five years, DOT officials have been conducting inspections and audits on Mexican companies to teach them the U.S. system.
Considerable progress has been made, according to DeCarme and other DOT officials. But from the perspective of one enforcement specialist, the effectiveness of this convergence needs to be tested.
Steve Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, would like to see DOT sponsor an objective, third-party audit of some of the Mexican applicants for U.S. authority.
A thorough safety review by experienced investigators would go a long way to clarify the state of Mexican readiness, Campbell said. "Until you do that you cannot honestly answer what happens in Mexico."