Letter: Mexican trucks are thoroughly inspected

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 | 7:04 a.m.

Regardless of last week's action in the U.S. House of Representatives, Las Vegas Sun readers should know that the cross-border demonstration program, as proposed by the U.S. Transportation Department, upholds the strictest safety mandates for Mexican trucks. A recent editorial in the Sun suggested otherwise ("Promoting safety - House is right to impose safety restrictions on Mexican trucks entering the United States," May 17).

Under the program, every Mexican carrier is thoroughly inspected and held to even stricter safety standards than U.S. and Canadian carriers: driver training; verification of a U.S. insurance policy; full compliance with hours-of-service regulations; vehicle maintenance; ability to communicate in English; and drug and alcohol testing.

Every inspected carrier has sent its drivers to U.S. labs to collect and test samples. U.S. inspectors, in Mexico, conduct full, 39-point, front-to-back inspections of every vehicle that the carrier intends to use in the United States. Mexican carriers are also prohibited from transporting domestic freight from point-to-point in this country, as well as from transporting hazardous materials or passengers.

Every day we inspect hundreds of Mexican trucks in border commercial zones; these inspections show that their equipment is as safe as U.S. trucks. We actually pull a slightly smaller percentage of Mexican trucks inspected out of service than we do U.S. trucks.

This program allows U.S. carriers to expand their businesses into Mexico for the first time ever, beginning at the same time Mexican trucks are allowed to operate beyond U.S. border areas. These opportunities put the program on track to lower costs for U.S. consumers and make our economy more competitive.

John H. Hill, Washington

The writer is administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is part of the U.S. Transportation Department.