Obama Administration Plans to Bring Back Program Allowing Mexican Semi Truck Drivers to Operate in U.S.
Several months ago, we wrote a post about a program the Bush administration implemented which allowed 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate their semi trucks in the United States. Critics of the program complained that the Mexican truck drivers were not being properly checked and regulated and posed a serious safety risk to other drivers in the U.S. As we have pointed out over and over again in this blog, semi trucks are subject to a large volume of federal regulations due to the dangerous nature of semi trucks and the number and severity of accidents in which they are involved every year. It was unclear how the Mexican semi truck drivers and their companies would be effectively regulated for safety purposes when the U.S. government has a hard enough time regulating U.S.-based semi truck drivers. Mexico does not have a regulatory and record-keeping system designed to prevent serious accidents and make sure semi truck drivers are qualified like the U.S. does.
That program was ultimately terminated. However, the Obama administration has indicated an intention to revive the program and allow certain Mexican trucking companies to operate in the U.S. This, of course, may be a precursor to unrestricted access to the U.S. by more or all Mexican trucking companies. The press release from the Obama administration on this issue mentioned that safety concerns have been addressed. However, the Obama administration has not given any details describing exactly how those safety concerns have been identified or addressed. Given the difficulty the U.S. government has in regulating U.S. truck drivers and preventing serious and fatal accidents, until we see details and results, we are somewhat skeptical that the government has figured out how to effectively regulate foreign truck drivers who come from a country with no track record of safety regulation.
However, it is important to note that the Mexican truck drivers who participated in the program during the Bush administration had better safety records than U.S. semi truck drivers, although the sample size was too small to formulate any reliable conclusions.
