Mexican Trucks on U.S. Roads

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, August 19, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. On July 6th President Obama’s Secretary of Transportation and a Mexican official signed an agreement to allow Mexican trucks to drive on U.S. highways and roads. Both Clinton and Bush kept Mexican trucks out of the U.S. and Congress voted 441 to 3 in the House and 75 to 23 in the Senate AGAINST letting them in. But Secretary LaHood went to Mexico and signed the agreement with no advance notice or warning to the public or Congress.

There are good reasons Mexican trucks have been barred from operating inside the United States. They are known to be overweight and do not comply with safety regulations, such as anti-lock brakes, that are considered essential in the United States. So, since March 2009 they have been required to stop at the border zone and transfer their cargo onto U.S. trucks.

U.S. law requires truck drivers to speak and understand the English language, but the plan’s concept document says each Mexican truck driver will take an English Language Proficiency test, but it does not say Mexican drivers must speak English or pass the test.

Under the concept document, only 50 percent of Mexican trucks would be subject to border inspections, although it’s certain many of them will be carrying illegal aliens and illegal drugs. Although the document DOES call for a review of the Mexican carriers’ safety program, a review of driving records of the truck drivers in the program, along with safety and emissions inspections of Mexican trucks, it sets no standard for their reviews or inspections.

The executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association immediately filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit, asking the Court to stop the program. He explained the situation this way: “U.S. truckers would be forced to forfeit their own economic opportunities while companies and drivers from Mexico, free from equivalent regulatory burdens, take over their traffic lanes.”

In case you think equal access of U.S. drivers onto Mexican roads would make this right, remember this. U.S. drivers don’t want to drive into northern Mexico. It’s the most dangerous area in the world because of the ongoing war between drug cartels. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.