Mexican
Trucks Head for U.S.
espite
objections from highway safety activists and American truck
drivers, the Bush administration announced that beginning
in April the U.S. will allow Mexican cargo trucks into the
U.S.
As part of a plan by U.S. commerical and political elites
to integrate America and Mexico, trucks carrying goods produced
in Mexico will no longer be restricted to the 25-mile commercial
zone inside the U.S. border with Mexico. Previously trucks
entering the U.S. from Mexico had to unload their freight
at points inside that zone for transfer to American long-distance
haulers. Now those same trucks may keep driving north, competing
with American truckers for shipping business in a one-year
pilot project for an unlimited number of trucks from 100
participating Mexican truck companies. After the project,
all carriers will be allowed access to the U.S.
America's commercial leaders applaud the move, seeing it
as a way to further enhance their profits. It means that
companies that have shifted manufacturing operations to
Mexico to take advantage of cheap labor can transport their
goods into the U.S. without having to hire American truck
drivers.
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed
in 1994, truckers from the U.S., Mexico and Canada were
supposed to have full access to highways in all three countries
by 2000. But Mexican trucks were denied access to U.S. highways
in 1995 because of safety concerns, and Congress rebuffed
President Bush's efforts to open the border in 2001. NAFTA
was adopted during the left-wing Clinton administration
with support from right-wing Republicans.
"The Bush administration is playing Russian roulette
with highway safety and national security," said James
P. Hoffa, president of the 1.4 million-member International
Brotherhood of Teamsters.
In testimony before the U.S. Senate's subcommitee on transportation,
housing, and urban development, Hoffa charged that Mexican
trucks do not meet American safety standards, and the drivers
are not required to undergo the same training imposed on
U.S. truckers.
"The Mexican government has had 15 years to address
truck safety and they have failed miserably," he said.
"They have had 15 years to implement a national computer
system like the U.S. and they have failed miserably. They
have had 15 years to creat driver training and safety programs
and they have failed miserably. They have had 15 years to
create driver protocols like drug testing and physicals
and they have failed miserably."
Just two years ago, the inspector general of the U.S. Department
of Transportation reported that the Mexican government and
Mexican motor carriers did not meet congresionally-mandated
requirements.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said U.S. inspectors
will travel to Mexico to inspect trucks. But if the truck
inspections are carried out with the same diligence the
Bush aministration has applied to guarding the border, the
project may allow unsafe trucks onto American highways.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, warns that Americans' safety
on the roads is at stake.
It is impossible to know how many hours or days a driver
has been behind the wheel of a truck in Mexico, without
rest, prior to crossing the border and entering our highways.
Anecdotal evidence from news reports suggests that working
hours for truck drivers in Mexico go far beyond anyone's
estimate of a safe, reasonable limit," Oberstar said.
"Drug and alcohol testing is another essential element.
Without oversight and established controls at collection
sites, compliance is very difficult to gauge."
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, agrees.
"Despite the recent agreement to allow U.S. truck safety
inspectors into Mexico to conduct safety audits, I am dubious
that Mexican trucks or their drivers will meet the same
safety and environmental standards as those in the U.S.,"
DeFazio said. "Under the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. has consistently compromised
its environmental and labor standards. Now we're being asked
to risk the safety of citizens on highways and in communities
where these trucks will travel."
During the project, U.S. truckers may ship goods into Mexico,
too. But some truck operators say that because of crime
and police corruptions, they won't risk going south of the
border.
Chris Carr, a senior partner of C.A.T. Memphis trucking
company, who manages about 40 trucks, is one of them.
"I don't want to send my trucks into Mexico,"
he said. "The drivers aren't going to want to go to
Mexico because of the crime. It's basically a Third World
country. It's a whole different society and way of life."
Carr also worries about whether Mexican truckers who can't
speak English will be able to navigate U.S. roadways and
reach their destinations safely.
Business and political elites in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada
have been working for the last several years on projects
and programs to integrate the three countries into a "North
American Union." Middle American News reported in August
2005 that the plan, first proposed by the influential Council
on Foreign Relations, includes eliminating border restrictions
among the three countries. Adopted by the Bush administration
as the Security and Prosperity Partnership, the plan calls
for creating a single boder perimeter for all three countries,
with unlimited and unrestricted movement of goods and people
between the countries inside the perimeter.
