On Thursday, September 6, 2007, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) officially began a pilot program allowing Mexican long-haul trucks to enter the U.S. I do not approve of the DOT's decision to begin this pilot program. The Bush Administration should immediately suspend this program until the DOT can completely implement the recommendations of its Inspector General's Office, and also certify that the Mexican trucks meet California air quality and safety standards.
On February 23, 2007, the Secretary of Transportation announced a one-year pilot program permitting one hundred Mexican truck companies to begin operating beyond the 20 mile commercial border zone they were previously limited to in California.
According to the Memorandum issued on Thursday September 6, 2007, by the DOT's Inspector General's Office, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator (FMCSA) has not fully developed and implemented complete, coordinated plans for the checking of trucks and drivers participating in the pilot program as they cross the border into the U.S. FMCSA has not yet implemented site specific plans, nor have they fully coordinated with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. On top of this, the FMCSA has not coordinated with state enforcement officials to implement recent project demonstration guidance.
The decision to allow Mexican long-haul trucks into the U.S. and U.S. long-haul trucks into Mexico was originally agreed upon in NAFTA in December, 1992. NAFTA originally consented to cross-border trucking throughout both countries by January 1, 2000; however numerous concerns relating to the poor air and safety quality of Mexican trucks delayed the cross-border initiative until 2007.
According to a 2005 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA), 66% of the Mexican long-haul truck fleet is model year 1993 or older, and 25% was built prior to 1980. According to CEPA, engines from 1980 and earlier, on average, emit very high levels of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and particulate matter. According to CEPA's worst case scenario, Mexican truck travel into California under NAFTA may contribute an additional fifty tons a day of NOx and 2.5 tons per day of particulate matter in the South Coast Basin Alone.
On October 12, 2006, Mexico passed a new law to bring its environmental standards for heavy duty trucks in line with American ones. While this is a sign that Mexico is making progress on its standards, the new rules will not go into effect before July 2008, and full compliance by all Mexican Trucking companies will likely take much longer.
While the U.S. already allows Canadian long-haul trucks to operate within our borders, Canada's environmental standards for these long-haul trucks are at least as stringent as our own. I do not support the decision by the Administration to allow environmentally unsafe trucks to operate in California. The pilot program should be immediately suspended until the FMCSA has implemented all of the recommendations of the DOT's Inspector General's Office and State agencies can certify that Mexican long haul trucks meet California's air quality and safety standards.