Feds outsource Mexican truck safety

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has delegated key inspection requirements for Mexican trucks to a non-governmental trilateral trade association, whose goal is to impose North American standards on all commercial motor vehicles operating in Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

Since the early 1980s, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, or CVSA, operating as a non-governmental organization, has quietly knit together the motor-vehicle agencies in the three countries, building a common regulatory continental structure below the radar of public opinion, available now to function as the backbone of the FMCSA effort to allow approved Mexican trucking companies to run their long-haul rigs throughout the United States.

According to a Colorado law enforcement document obtained by WND, the FMCSA has made arrangements for the CVSA to provide inspection decals to all Mexican trucks who pass inspection in the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck NAFTA demonstration project.

The CVSA is a non-profit association composed of "state, provincial, and federal officials responsible for the administration and enforcement of motor carrier safety laws in the United States, Canada and Mexico."

CVSA membership includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, all 13 Canadian provinces, Mexico, and various U.S. territories, including Guam, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

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According to the group's website, the CVSA has evolved from an informal gathering of western states motor-vehicle agencies in the 1980s, to a trilateral group setting uniform commercial vehicle safety requirements in all of North America.

The Colorado law enforcement bulletin specifies that Mexican carriers who are part of the "Cross Border Demonstration Project" must display a valid CVSA inspection decal.

The law enforcement notice further specifies, "In general, vehicles with valid CVSA decal(s) are not subject to re-inspection until the decal is expired. If obvious violations are noticed, the vehicle may be re-inspected."

The key position of the CVSA in the FMCSA's Mexican truck demonstration project is affirmed by a cross-border operating requirements handbook published on the FMCSA website.

The group's website identifies CVSA as "a public/private partnership," with open invitation to individuals and trucking companies to join as members, along with law enforcement organizations.

A section of the group's website describing CVSA inspections notes, "Inspections must be performed by and CVSA decals affixed by North American Standard Level I and/or Level V certified inspectors. The term 'certified' as defined in this section means the government employee performing inspections and/or affixing CVSA decals must have first successfully completed a training program approved by the Alliance."

The website further specifies, "CVSA decals, when affixed, shall remain valid for a period not to exceed three consecutive months. Vehicles displaying a valid CVSA decal generally will not be subject to re-inspection."

The language consistently reflects standards for North America, consistent with the group's goal to standardize continental driver and vehicle safety requirements on a continental basis.

A Level I "North American Standard Inspection" is specified on the CVSA website to include examination of driver's license and other driver's records including alcohol and drug testing, as well as a vehicle inspection for multiple physical safety requirements.

A Level V inspection is a vehicle-only examination under the Level I North American Standard Inspection requirements, without a driver present.

The FMCSA website currently identifies five Mexican trucking companies and three U.S. trucking companies qualified to participate in the demonstration project.

As WND has reported, both the House and the Senate have overwhelmingly voted to remove the funding from the Department of Transportation's FY 2008 appropriations bill.

DOT, however, has decided continue allowing approved Mexican trucking companies to run their long-haul rigs throughout the United States, arguing that the vote of Congress is not binding until President Bush signs the bill.

WND reported Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the sponsor of the House amendment to block DOT funding, has charged the Bush administration with being "hell-bent" in opening our borders to Mexican trucks, while defying the will of the American public and failing to convince Congress that Mexican drivers and trucks will meet the same safety standards as U.S. drivers and trucks.

WND has also reported that Melissa DeLaney, spokeswoman for the FMCSA, indicated further defiance to Congress and the will of the American people by suggesting that the FMCSA might sidestep the amendments designed to cut off funding for approved Mexican trucks to continue to operate within the United States.

"We are committed to incremental steps in demonstrating the safety of the cross-border program," DeLaney told WND, "but there is no requirement to have a demonstration project."

FMCSA close working relationship with CVSA is demonstrated by "Operation Safe Driver," a trucking industry program the two are launching together today in Orlando, Fla.

The program, subtitled "Cutting it Close Can Cut Your Life Short," is aimed at addressing the 12 percent of fatal crashes in the U.S. involving trucks and buses.

The effort is aimed at "launching a new campaign concentrating on the unsafe driving practices of commercial and non-commercial drivers."

The Colorado law enforcement document was provided to WND by the Peter Boyles radio show in Denver.

A copy of the document is available for viewing on the program's website.

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