Government hiring inspectors, safety auditors before U.S. roads open to Mexican truck

Associated Press ^ | 6/27/2002 | By Matthew Daly

[WakeUpChristian]

Government hiring inspectors, safety auditors before U.S. roads open to Mexican truck traffic this summer

By Matthew Daly,

WASHINGTON (AP) The government is hiring dozens of border inspectors and safety auditors and will have trained more than enough to allow Mexican trucks to travel beyond the Southwestern border by midsummer, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said Thursday.

Nearly 150 new border inspectors and 67 new safety auditors should have completed training by the end of July, Mineta said, as the department significantly upgrades safety checks along the Mexican border.

By midsummer, the United States will have more than four times the number of personnel at the border compared with mid-2001, Mineta told a joint Senate committee hearing.

He said the border opening would come ''in the near future'' and only after proper security is in place.

''We will not open the border if doing so poses an unacceptable risk,'' Mineta said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who led the push for tougher truck-safety oversight, said that while more work needs to be done, ''I think that over time it will be clear that trade and safety are not mutually exclusive.''

Congress ordered that safety checks be in place and be certified by Mineta before Mexican trucks could travel much beyond the Southwestern border. Mexican trucks gained full access to U.S. roads beginning in 2000 under a provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Congress delayed their entry twice amid concerns about safety and from labor groups. An arbitration panel ruled the United States was violating NAFTA by refusing to comply with that provision, but it also allowed the country to impose safety measures.

A department report Thursday on Mexican truck traffic found that more inspectors need to be hired; more inspection sites need to be built; federal and state inspectors need reliable electronic access to Mexican and U.S. databases; and the safety monitoring system for Mexican carriers is not yet completed.

U.S. officials have said they do not expect Mexican long-haul carriers to flood across the border once it is declared open. Last year, U.S. and Mexican commercial truck crossings totaled 4.3 million.

[WakeUpChristian]

In addition, the Transportation Department is close to gaining access to databases in the United States and Mexico to check commercial driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, insurance and operating authority, Mead said.

[WakeUpChristian]

There were 4.3 million trucks entering the United States from Mexico in 2001, but that figure included Mexican and U.S. trucks. Some of those vehicles presumably made multiple crossings, Mead's report said.

[WakeUpChristian]

Nearly 150 new border inspectors and 67 new safety auditors to do 4.3 million trucks entering the United States

[Tacis]

And, this delay is costing the drug lords and, therefore, their politician employees, a fortune. A couple of 18 wheelers full of stuff is a lot more efficient than 1000 mules, each carrying two kilos.

[deport]

Nearly 150 new border inspectors and 67 new safety auditors to do 4.3 million trucks entering the United States

Naw..... just to take care of these 59 trucks and the few more that are expected.....

Last year, U.S. and Mexican commercial truck crossings totaled 4.3 million, including trucks that made multiple crossings. That's down from 4.5 million in 2000.

Mexican carriers have sought 20 applications for long-haul authority, which is permission to drive beyond the border zones, the report said. Thirteen of the applicants plan to operate a combined 59 long-haul commercial vehicles. The other seven applications were incomplete, the report said.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Methinks this is a step in the right direction. Check the drivers out too, and peek at the cargo. Please.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Safety inspections will not address the other problem for us out here. The term 'freeway' is already an oxymoron in California. Why are we adding more traffic to an overtaxed system? So this summer, instead of sitting on the freeway for two hours we can sit there for four? They haven't seen anything yet in terms of road rage.

[SamBees]

I thought this was dead! This is terrible! We don't need those trucks on our roads!

[lawdog]

Wasn't Rush telling everyone about a year or so ago that these trucks would only be traveling within the "border areas" and thus this would not effect american truckers. Rush, you were wrong!

[Nuke'm Glowing]

Rush didn't have a clue on this subject. He was reading the GOP line. This is going to be very, very ugly.

[brat]

"Nearly 150 new border inspectors and 67 new safety auditors to do 4.3 million trucks entering the United States"

Oh that will work. ~sarcasm off~

[Marine Inspector]

"Nearly 150 new border inspectors and 67 new safety auditors to do 4.3 million trucks entering the United States"

That’s a better ratio than we have for Immigration Inspectors inspecting people.