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U.S.-Mexico effort could die
By David Hendricks
San Antonio Express-News
Published on Saturday, Sep 06, 2008
When Congress reconvenes, it might break the economic development heart of Texas and other states on the U.S.-Mexico border.
A bill in the House aims to end the cross-border trucking pilot program that started a year ago.
The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously July 31 on a resolution that would end the test program on its one-year anniversary today.
If the House and the Senate approve the resolution in one form or another, President Bush is expected to veto it unless it's included in a larger measure.
Still, opponents of cross-border trucking believe they have enough congressional votes to override a veto.
The proposal that led to the pilot project originated in San Antonio. A one-truck, one-driver truck freight system to and from Mexico means San Antonio could be a stopping point for warehousing and distribution services. It hadn't been considered a stopping point before the test program began because all freight had to change carriers at the border, about 150 miles away.
Consumers have something at stake, too. Cross-border trucking saves time and money because the border becomes less of an obstacle, carriers say.
''I think the pilot project was a great compromise,'' U.S. Rep. Charles Gonzalez of the San Antonio area said. ''There is no harm in extending the pilot project. The pilot program ended a 12-year delay in one-driver, one-truck international deliveries originally authorized by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
''The trucking industry views this as a threat, but I believe we must abide by our agreements,'' Gonzalez said, referring to NAFTA.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Aug. 4 announced plans to extend the test period another two years. The agency said it needed more results before making cross-border trucking permanent.
About two years after the 2001 terrorism attacks, the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio proposed the pilot program to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a way to test new security technologies, including radio-frequency and transponder devices. Trucks transport about 75 percent of U.S.-Mexico trade.
While San Antonio fought for cross-border trucking as an economic development issue, the matter faced fierce resistance from truck-driving groups, especially the Teamsters union and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
Mexico lacks the safety systems to properly deliver freight beyond the border zone, said Todd Spencer, the association's executive vice president.
Violations continue to occur with drivers who don't speak English or keep logbooks and with trucks with unsafe brakes, lights and other vehicle conditions, he said.
Mexican trucks also are crossing into the United States loaded with cheaper, subsidized diesel fuel, giving them an unfair cost advantage over U.S. carriers and drivers, Spencer added.
About 100,000 U.S. trucks have been idled in 2008 because of high diesel fuel costs, he said. While drivers cannot say that competition with Mexican drivers in the pilot program alone has put them out of business, truck drivers ''face a combination of high costs and an inability to offset those costs,'' Spencer said.
But the facts do not bear out the safety concerns, said John Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration administrator.
More than 1,300 U.S. deliveries have occurred in the pilot project without an accident or crash.
Federal inspectors have checked about 5,000 long-haul Mexican trucks as part of the pilot project, but only 9.2 percent have been placed out of service. The U.S. truck out-of-service rate is 22 percent, Hill said.
In addition, if the United States unilaterally ended cross-border trucking access, Mexico could impose trade sanctions under NAFTA, affecting numerous U.S. industries, Hill warned.
One Mexican long-haul trucking company that makes U.S. deliveries under the test program said the one-driver, one-truck system saves time and money for its customers. Deliveries can occur at least one day quicker when the freight does not have to stop on one side of the border to be taken across by another carrier and picked up by a third carrier on the other side, said Jose Gil, traffic manager for Transportes Olympic.
Costs are cut when the freight doesn't have to be reloaded from one truck to another, he said.
When Congress reconvenes, it might break the economic development heart of Texas and other states on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Get the full article here.
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