Roads Open to Mexican trucks ; Teamsters concerned about safety, wages, contraband

July 24-- With Mexican trucks ready to roll on Michigan and Indiana highways later this summer, critics and state police say they still have concerns about safety and inspections.

Mexican truck traffic is expected to be light to start, but should build as companies use the service to get parts from Mexican factories to U.S. assembly plants.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican long-haul trucks were to have been plying U.S. roadways two years ago. But the opening of the border was stalled after the Teamsters union and other groups convinced Congress there were not enough safeguards to ensure the trucks are road worthy.

"If I was an American, I would be concerned about my wife and kids being out on the Toll Road with those unsafe Mexican trucks," said Bob Warnock III, a business agent for Teamsters Local 364, based in South Bend. "This is nothing against the Hispanic people, it's about safety."

Warnock says the Teamsters also fear competition from lower-wage Mexican drivers.

About 1,000 members of Teamsters Local 364, based in South Bend, work either as long-haul truckers or in jobs related to long-haul, according to Warnock.

The chief trade group for independent truckers, the Owner- Operators Independent Drivers Association, also has taken a stand against letting Mexican long-haul trucks on U.S. roads.

State enforcers cautious

Currently, Mexican trucks are restricted to a border zone in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

The U.S. Department of Transportation sets regulations for safe trucking and staffs border truck inspection posts. But only a fraction of the four million trucks per year currently passing into the U.S. from Mexico are actually inspected. Once trucks are allowed further into the United States, state inspectors will be the front- line troops when it comes to making sure trucks are safe and authorized to be here.

Indiana authorities have been preparing for the arrival of the Mexican trucks, according to Major John Hill, commander of the commercial vehicle enforcement division of the Indiana State Police. But he worries about complications that can arise during inspections when drivers don't speak English.

"It's not talked about widely, but in terms of enforcement mechanisms, it's a big deal," Hill said. Inspectors already are dealing with a big upsurge in non-English speaking drivers.

Michigan truck inspectors have to deal with more and more drivers from Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere who don't read, write or speak English, according to Bob Powers, commander of the motor carrier division of the Michigan State Police.

Not knowing English is a safety issue when it comes to reading signs, especially with all the automated electric signs now used on highways. It also becomes difficult and sometimes impossible to do inspections when drivers can't speak English.

A work in progress States also lack a direct means of validating whether trucks have the necessary registrations to be on U.S. roads, according to Hill. Mexico is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a database accessible to state inspectors.

A third problem was recently pointed out by the transportation department's inspector general in a report to Congress. Only Arizona and California state inspectors currently have the legal authority to take a Mexican truck not authorized to be on U.S. roads and yank it out of service.

Authorized trucks are those that belong to trucking companies which have been inspected and certified by the Department of Transportation.

In Indiana, Michigan and 45 other states in the continental United States, legislatures will have to pass laws empowering inspectors to pull unauthorized trucks out of service. Presently, inspectors in those states can only ticket unauthorized trucks. They can pull them out of service for serious safety violations.

Powers said the key to making sure vehicles are safe will be the federal inspectors at the border crossings. No one expects an avalanche of trucks on Michigan or Indiana roadways anytime soon. But the traffic is sure to grow over the years.

Powers pointed out the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit carries 7,000 trucks a day between the United States and Canada.

The Motor Carrier Division of the Michigan State Police currently has 131 officers who do truck inspections.

In Indiana, the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division currently has 118 officers inspecting trucks and 12 state troopers authorized to do full truck inspections.

Local Teamsters oppose Opponents of opening U.S. borders to Mexican long-haul trucks say shortcomings in state enforcement powers are one more reason to keep the border closed.

Teamsters Local 364 members in Indiana and Michigan have written letters and worked phone banks to let Congress know they oppose allowing the trucks in, according to Warnock.

According to Warnock, Mexican trucking companies pay drivers about $7 per hour while U.S. companies pay $18 to $20. But much of the Teamster's campaign in Congress also has focused on safety, which reverberates with a wider public. Warnock believes inspectors will have a hard time knowing how many hours drivers have been on the road in Mexico before crossing the U.S. border. Rules here limit drivers to 10 driving hours per day.

He also sees the move as likely to increase the ease with which drugs and other contraband can be smuggled across the border.

Mexico: Fears unwarranted The Mexican government is anxious to see the border opened to long-haul trucking. "It's very important for NAFTA to be able to take all this trade, some $200 billion a year, between the two countries, that it be able to cross the line," said Cesar Romero, a spokesman for the Mexican Consular General's Office in Chicago.

Mexico accuses the U.S. Congress of bowing to political pressures in delaying the move. Romero said the Teamsters have used safety issues as a smoke screen. "They thought their interest would be affected by this," Romero said. "That was the reason behind the delays, and they use security topics sometimes as an excuse." Romero acknowledged Mexican truckers are paid less but said the spread between their wages and U.S. truckers is not as wide as some say.

U.S. drivers worry Drivers stopping over at the Pilot Travel Center truck stop at Ameritech Drive and Cleveland Road, in South Bend, last week said the coming of the Mexican trucks is a definite topic of conversation on the road.

A number of drivers said they've seen manufacturing jobs flee to Mexico, and they don't want their jobs to be next. Joe Jolly, an Oklahoma truck driver taking a tractor-trailer full of beer coast to coast, said trucking companies are always trying to drive down their costs. "It would definitely be more competition because there's barely enough freight to go around now," Jolly said. "Their wage scales are lower in Mexico, so it seems like they could just come over here and slit our throats. Everyone I know is against it."

Jolly said he also doesn't see how non-English speaking drivers can read signs here and explain their truck logs to inspectors.

Dale Quakenbush was sitting in his cab on Wednesday waiting to pick up a load at a local automotive parts maker for delivery to a General Motors plant in Oklahoma City.

"Wages will be a big issue," Quakenbush said. "I think it will take away freight and make it easy for companies to subcontract to Mexican companies to haul freight." Quakenbush said there are fears among drivers that once Mexican trucks are in the U.S. they could skirt the rules and make extra stops in this country to do even more hauling.

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