SF Chron: Unsafe Trucks to Enter California from Mexico
Oski Bear
Long-distance haulers are headed into U.S. once Bush opens borders
Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2001
2001 San Francisco Chronicle
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/04
/MN143818.DTL
Altar Desert, Mexico -- Editor's Note: This week, the Bush administration is
required by NAFTA to announce that Mexican long-haul trucks will be allowed
onto U.S. highways - where they have long been banned over concerns about
safety - rather than stopping at the border. The Chronicle sent a team to
get
the inside story before the trucks start to roll.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
--
It was sometime way after midnight in the middle of nowhere, and a giddy
Manuel Marquez was at the wheel of 20 tons of hurtling, U.S.-bound
merchandise.
The lights of oncoming trucks flared into a blur as they whooshed past on
the
narrow, two-lane highway, mere inches from the left mirror of his truck.
Also
gone in a blur were Marquez's past two days, a nearly Olympic ordeal of
driving with barely a few hours of sleep.
"Ayy, Mexico!" Marquez exclaimed as he slammed on the brakes around a hilly
curve, steering around another truck that had stopped in the middle of the
lane, its hood up and its driver nonchalantly smoking a cigarette. "We have
so
much talent to share with the Americans - and so much craziness."
Several hours ahead in the desert darkness was the border, the end of
Marquez's 1,800-mile run. At Tijuana, he would deliver his cargo, wait for
another load, then head back south.
But soon, Marquez and other Mexican truckers will be able to cross the
border
instead of turning around. Their feats of long-distance stamina - and,
critics
fear, endangerment of public safety - are coming to a California freeway
near
you.
Later this week, the Bush administration is expected to announce that it
will
open America's highways to Mexican long-haul trucks, thus ending a long
fight
by U.S. truckers and highway safety advocates to keep them out.
Under limitations imposed by the United States since 1982, Mexican vehicles
are allowed passage only within a narrow border commercial zone, where they
must transfer their cargo to U.S.-based long-haul trucks and drivers.
The lifting of the ban - ordered last month by an arbitration panel of the
North American Free Trade Agreement - has been at the center of one of the
most high-decibel issues in the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship.
Will the end of the ban endanger American motorists by bringing thousands of
potentially unsafe Mexican trucks to U.S. roads? Or will it reduce the costs
of cross-border trade and end U.S. protectionism with no increase in
accidents?
Two weeks ago, as the controversy grew, Marquez's employer, Transportes
Castores, allowed a Chronicle reporter and photographer to join him on a
typical run from Mexico City to the border.
The three-day, 1,800-mile journey offered a window into a part of Mexico
that
few Americans ever see - the life of Mexican truckers, a resourceful,
long-suffering breed who, from all indications, do not deserve their pariah
status north of the border.
But critics of the border opening would also find proof of their concerns
about safety:
-- American inspectors at the border are badly undermanned and will be hard-
pressed to inspect more than a fraction of the incoming Mexican trucks.
California - which has a much more rigorous truck inspection program than
Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, the other border states - gave full
inspections
to only 2 percent of the 920,000 short-haul trucks allowed to enter from
Mexico last year.
Critics say the four states will be overwhelmed by the influx of Mexican
long-haul trucks, which are expected to nearly double the current volume of
truck traffic at the border.
-- Most long-distance Mexican trucks are relatively modern, but maintenance
is
erratic.
Marquez's truck, for example, was a sleek, 6-month-old, Mexican-made
Kenworth,
equal to most trucks north of the border. But his windshield was cracked - a
safety violation that would earn him a ticket in the United States but had
been ignored by his company since it occurred two months ago.
A recent report by the U.S. Transportation Department said 35 percent of
Mexican trucks that entered the United States last year were ordered off the
road by inspectors for safety violations such as faulty brakes and lights.
-- Mexico's domestic truck-safety regulation is extremely lax. Mexico has no
functioning truck weigh stations, and Marquez said federal police appear to
have abandoned a program of random highway inspections that was inaugurated
with much fanfare last fall.
-- Almost all Mexican long-haul drivers are forced to work dangerously long
hours.
Marquez was a skillful driver, with lightning reflexes honed by road
conditions that would make U.S. highways seem like cruise-control paradise.
But he was often steering through a thick fog of exhaustion.
In Mexico, no logbooks - required in the United States to keep track of
hours
and itinerary - are kept. Marquez slept a total of only seven hours during
his
three-day trip.
"We're just like American truckers, I'm sure," Marquez said with a grin.
"We're neither saints nor devils. But we're good drivers, that's for sure,
or
we'd all be dead."
-- -- --
Although no reliable statistics exist for the Bay Area's trade with Mexico,
it
is estimated that the region's exports and imports with Mexico total $6
billion annually. About 90 percent of that amount moves by truck, in tens of
thousands of round trips to and from the border.
Under the decades-old border restrictions, long-haul trucks from either side
must transfer their loads to short-haul "drayage" truckers, who cross the
border and transfer the cargo again to long-haul domestic trucks. The
complicated arrangement is costly and time-consuming, making imported goods
more expensive for U.S. consumers.
Industry analysts say that after the ban is lifted, most of the two nations'
trade will be done by Mexican drivers, who come much cheaper than American
truckers because they earn only about one-third the salary and typically
drive
about 20 hours per day.
Although Mexican truckers would have to obey the U.S. legal limit of 10
hours
consecutive driving when in the United States, safety experts worry that
northbound drivers will be so sleep-deprived by the time they cross the
border
that the American limit will be meaningless. Mexican drivers would not,
however, be bound by U.S. labor laws, such as the minimum wage.
"Are you going to be able to stay awake?" Marcos Munoz, vice president of
Transportes Castores jokingly asked a Chronicle reporter before the trip.
"Do
you want some pingas?"
The word is slang for uppers, the stimulant pills that are commonly used by
Mexican truckers. Marquez, however, needed only a few cups of coffee to stay
awake through three straight 21-hour days at the wheel.
Talking with his passengers, chatting on the CB radio with friends, and
listening to tapes of 1950s and 1960s ranchera and bolero music, he showed
few
outward signs of fatigue.
But the 46-year-old Marquez, who has been a trucker for 25 years, admitted
that the burden occasionally is too much.
"Don't kid yourself," he said late the third night. "Sometimes, you get so
tired, so worn, your head just falls."
U.S. highway safety groups predict an increase in accidents after the border
is opened.
"Even now, there aren't enough safety inspectors available for all crossing
points," said David Golden, a top official of the National Association of
Independent Insurers, the main insurance-industry lobby.
"So we need to make sure that when you're going down Interstate 5 with an
80,000-pound Mexican truck in your rearview mirror and you have to jam on
your
brakes, that truck doesn't come through your window."
Golden said the Bush administration should delay the opening to Mexican
trucks
until border facilities are upgraded.
California highway safety advocates concur, saying the California Highway
Patrol - which carries out the state's truck inspections - needs to be given
more inspectors and larger facilities to check incoming trucks' brakes,
lights
and other safety functions.
-- -- --
Marquez's trip started at his company's freight yard in Tlalnepantla, an
industrial suburb of Mexico City. There, his truck was loaded with a typical
variety of cargo - electronic components and handicrafts bound for Los
Angeles,
and chemicals, printing equipment and industrial parts for Tijuana.
At the compound's gateway was a shrine with statues of the Virgin Mary and
Jesus. As he drove past, Marquez crossed himself, then crossed himself again
before the small Virgin on his dashboard.
"Just in case, you know," he said. "The devil is always on the loose on
these
roads."
In fact, Mexican truckers have to brave a wide variety of dangers.
As he drove through the high plateaus of central Mexico, Marquez pointed out
where he was hijacked a year ago - held up at gunpoint by robbers who pulled
alongside him in another truck. His trailer full of canned tuna - easy to
fence, he said - was stolen, along with all his personal belongings.
What's worse, some thieves wear uniforms.
On this trip, the truck had to pass 14 roadblocks, at which police and army
soldiers searched the cargo for narcotics. Each time, Marquez stood on
tiptoes
to watch over their shoulders. He said, "You have to have quick eyes, or
they'll take things out of the packages."
Twice, police inspectors asked for bribes - "something for the coffee," they
said. Each time, he refused and got away with it.
"You're good luck for me," he told a Chronicle reporter. "They ask for money
but then see an American and back off. Normally, I have to pay a lot."
-- -- --
Although the Mexican government has pushed hard to end the border
restrictions, the Mexican trucking industry is far from united behind that
position. Large trucking companies such as Transportes Castores back the
border opening, while small and medium-size ones oppose it.
"We're ready for the United States, and we'll be driving to Los Angeles and
San Francisco," said Munoz, the company's vice president.
"Our trucks are modern and can pass the U.S. inspections. Only about 10
companies here could meet the U.S. standards."
The border opening has been roundly opposed by CANACAR, the Mexican national
trucking industry association, which says it will result in U.S. firms
taking
over Mexico's trucking industry.
"The opening will allow giant U.S. truck firms to buy large Mexican firms
and
crush smaller ones," said Miguel Quintanilla, CANACAR's president. "We're at
a
disadvantage, and those who benefit will be the multinationals."
Quintanilla said U.S. firms will lower their current costs by replacing
their
American drivers with Mexicans, yet will use the huge American advantages -
superior warehouse and inventory-tracking technology, superior access to
financing and huge economies of scale - to drive Mexican companies out of
business.
Already, some U.S. trucking giants such as M.S. Carriers, Yellow Corp. and
Consolidated Freightways Corp. have invested heavily in Mexico.
"The opening of the border will bring about the consolidation of much of the
trucking industry on both sides of the border," said the leading U.S.
academic
expert on NAFTA trucking issues, James Giermanski, a professor at Belmont
Abbey College in Raleigh, N.C.
The largest U.S. firms will pair with large Mexican firms and will dominate
U.S.-Mexico traffic, he said.
But Giermanski added that the increase in long-haul cross-border traffic
will
be slower than either critics or advocates expect, because of language
difficulties, Mexico's inadequate insurance coverage and Mexico's time-
consuming system of customs brokers.
"All the scare stories you've heard are just ridiculous," he said. "The
process will take a long time."
-- -- --
In California, many truckers fear for their jobs. However, Teamsters union
officials say they are trying to persuade their members that Marquez and his
comrades are not the enemy.
"There will be a very vehement reaction by our members if the border is
opened," said Chuck Mack, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, which has
55, 000 members in the Bay Area.
"But we're trying to diminish the animosity that by focusing on the overall
problem - how (the opening) will help multinational corporations to exploit
drivers on both sides of the border."
Mexican drivers, however, are likely to welcome the multinationals'
increased
efficiency, which will enable them to earn more by wasting less time waiting
for loading and paperwork.
For example, in Mexico City, Marquez had to wait more than four hours for
stevedores to load his truck and for clerks to prepare the load's documents
-
a task that would take perhaps an hour for most U.S. trucking firms.
For drivers, time is money. Marquez's firm pays drivers a percentage of
gross
freight charges, minus some expenses. His three-day trip would net him about
$300. His average monthly income is about $1,400 - decent money in Mexico,
but
by no means middle class.
Most Mexican truckers are represented by a union, but it is nearly always
ineffectual - what Transportes Castores executives candidly described as a
"company union." A few days before this trip, Transportes Castores fired 20
drivers when they protested delays in reimbursement of fuel costs.
But Marquez didn't much like talking about his problems. He preferred to
discuss his only child, a 22-year-old daughter who is in her first year of
undergraduate medical school in Mexico City.
Along with paternal pride was sadness.
"Don't congratulate me," he said. "My wife is the one who raised her. I'm
gone
most of the time. You have to have a very strong marriage, because this job
is
hell on a wife.
"The money is OK, and I really like being out on the open road, but the
loneliness . . ." He left the thought unfinished, and turned up the volume
on
his cassette deck.
It was playing Pedro Infante, the famous bolero balladeer, and Marquez began
to sing.
"The moon of my nights has hidden itself.
"Oh little heavenly virgin, I am your son.
"Give me your consolation,
"Today, when I'm suffering out in the world."
Despite the melancholy tone, Marquez soon became jovial and energetic. He
smiled widely and encouraged his passengers to sing along. Forgoing his
normal
caution, he accelerated aggressively on the curves.
His voice rose, filling the cabin, drowning out the hiss of the pavement
below
and the rush of the wind that was blowing him inexorably toward the border.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
--
How NAFTA Ended the Ban On Mexico's Trucks
The North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in January
1994, stipulated that the longtime U.S. restrictions on Mexican trucks be
lifted.
Under NAFTA, by December 1995, Mexican trucks would be allowed to deliver
loads all over the four U.S. border states - California, Arizona, New Mexico
and Texas - and to pick up loads for their return trip to Mexico. U.S.
trucking firms would get similar rights to travel in Mexico. And by January
2000, Mexican trucks would be allowed throughout the United States.
However, bowing to pressure from the Teamsters union and the insurance
industry, President Clinton blocked implementation of the NAFTA provisions.
The Mexican government retaliated by imposing a similar ban on U.S. trucks.
As a result, the longtime status quo continues: Trucks from either side must
transfer their loads to short-haul "drayage" truckers, who cross the border
and transfer the cargo again to long-haul domestic trucks.
The complicated arrangement is time-consuming and expensive. Mexico
estimates
its losses at $2 billion annually; U.S. shippers say they have incurred
similar costs.
In 1998, Mexico filed a formal complaint under NAFTA, saying the U.S. ban
violated the trade pact and was mere protectionism. The convoluted complaint
process lasted nearly six years, until a three-person arbitration panel
finally ruled Feb. 6 that the United States must lift its ban by March 8 or
allow Mexico to levy punitive tariffs on U.S. exports.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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COMPARING TRUCKING REGULATIONS
The planned border opening to Mexican trucks will pose a big challenge to
U.S. inspectors, who will check to be sure that trucks from Mexico abide by
stricter U.S. truck-safety regulations. Here are some of the differences:
Hours-of-service limits for drivers:
In U.S.: Yes. Ten hours' consecutive driving, up to 15 consecutive hours on
duty, 8 hours' consecutive rest, maximum of 70 hours' driving in eight-day
period.
In Mexico: No
Driver's age
In U.S.: 21 is minimum for interstate trucking
In Mexico: 18
Random drug test
In U.S.: Yes, for all drivers
In Mexico: No
Automatic disqualification for certain medical conditions
In U.S.: Yes
In Mexico: No
Logbooks
In U.S.: Yes. Standardized logbooks with date graphs are required and part
of
inspection criteria.
In Mexico: A new law requiring logbooks is not enforced, and virtually no
truckers use them.
Maximum weight limit (in pounds)
In U.S.: 80,000
In Mexico: 135,000
Roadside Inspections
In U.S.: Yes
In Mexico: An inspection program began last year but has been discontinued.
Out-of-service rules for safety deficiencies
In U.S.: Yes
In Mexico: Not currently. Program to be phased in over two years.
Hazardous materials regulations
In U.S.: A strict standards, training, licensure and inspection regime.
In Mexico: Much laxer program with far fewer identified chemicals and
substances, and fewer licensure requirements.
Vehicle safety Standards
In U.S.: Comprehensive standards for components such as antilock brakes,
underride guards, night visibility of vehicle.
In Mexico: Newly enacted standards for vehicle inspections are voluntary for
the first year and less rigorous than U.S. rules.
Sources: Public Citizen, California Department of Transportation and
Chronicle research
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Oski Bear
Garry Wiegand
>>Long-distance haulers are headed into U.S. once Bush opens borders
This politically-derived argument, coming up yet again, is junk. American
truckers are not innately safer than Mexican ones. American truckers do not
have naturally sweet, safe, and gentle inner natures. If the Americans are
safer at the moment, it's because of law enforcement. When the Mexican
drivers cross the border, they'll be subject to the same law enforcement, and
they'll learn, the same as each American driver gets to learn.
What's the problem?
Garry
M.A. Murr Jr.
and their equipments average age is 10 years or more..not to mention the fact
that they have some truck drivers that are below the age of what American kids
start driving at...oh and did I mention that the problem is dumb Americans like
you...stupid people should be hung!
bear...@cruller.invalid
Garry Wiegand <gne...@ithaca.com> wrote:
> American truckers are not innately safer than Mexican ones. American
> truckers do not have naturally sweet, safe, and gentle inner
> natures. If the Americans are safer at the moment, it's because of
> law enforcement. When the Mexican drivers cross the border, they'll
> be subject to the same law enforcement, and they'll learn, the same
> as each American driver gets to learn.
>
> What's the problem? > Gary
The main problem is that there is neither enough carrot nor enough
stick. American truckers are paid sufficient to make their compliance
with U.S. safety standards reasonable. Mexican truckers are not; they
have far greater incentive to take risks. Your post seems to indicate
that you think these standards are inconsequential or unnecessary.
They are not.
U.S. Safety standards for the trucking industry are the result of many
years of carnage on the roads, carnage that the article implies
continues on Mexican roads to this day. U.S. rules are precise. They
didn't come about by accident. Everyone in the U.S. who uses public
roads should be concerned about this issue. Ignoring it, minimizing it,
or pretending there won't be any change is a recipe for disaster.
Looks to me like the problem may well be very serious.
Dave Smith
> You my friend are stupid! they do not obey our laws..their drivers are untrained
> and their equipments average age is 10 years or more..not to mention the fact
> that they have some truck drivers that are below the age of what American kids
> start driving at...oh and did I mention that the problem is dumb Americans like
> you...stupid people should be hung!
Well, I have to admit that I run into some real winners from south of the border.
They trucks are 10-15 years old. The driver is hard to understand. There is no way
the log can be true. There are bald tires, brakes out of adjustment, broken springs,
cracked frame, air lines leaking. and cracked windshields, but no defects noted in
the pre trip inspection reports. They seem to think that they only have to abide by
the laws of their own country and not the one they are in at the time. They have no
problem undercutting the rates that give our drivers enough profit to keep their
trucks in good shape. A lot of people here think that the trucks from south of the
border are in bad shape and should not be allowed on our roads.
Roger Shoaf
drivers and then you will understand.
I would not particularly want to drive a truck (or a car for that matter)
into Mexico, because of the corruption, and the hijacking potential. If the
truck got stolen, it would probably never be recovered. This would add to
the wage disparity to encourage the use of Mexican trucks, but discourage
the use of US or Canadian trucks.
--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.
Garry Wiegand <gne...@ithaca.com> wrote in message
news:35g6atoie0ca3m4uc...@4ax.com...
Chuck U. Farley
--
Chuck U. Farley intoned thusly:
Good one, Dave. Damn that NAFTA, anyway for letting all those Yankees into
Ontario.
@
</:oP))
@
"Where did all these f***ing Indians come from?"
-General Custer
"Dave Smith" <adavid...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3AA32DDF...@sympatico.ca...
Chuck U. Farley
--
Chuck U. Farley intoned thusly:
rig. As for the rest of it, the safety problems with Mexican rigs are
obvious, it will be a disaster to allow them to travel freely on American
highways. Another reason my rig is up for sale.
"Where did all these f***ing Indians come from?"
-General Custer
"Roger Shoaf" <sh...@nospamsyix.com> wrote in message
news:98380810...@webhost1.syix.com...
Dave Smith
>
> I would not particularly want to drive a truck (or a car for that matter)
> into Mexico, because of the corruption, and the hijacking potential. If the
> truck got stolen, it would probably never be recovered.
Wow, that's the same way a lot of drivers here feel about travelling south of
the border. ;-)
stas...@ix.netcom.com
The Mexican truckers could pick up some bad habits from some of the jerks
driving in the US.
Tailgating and speeding are two such problems. Clock a trucker; routinely they
exceed the speed limit. Poor equipment? You bet. If law enforcement checked more
US trucks there would be many cited for defective equipment. Then there is the
matter of excessive hours behind the wheel, not enough rest, dupe log books.
So why pick on Mexicans? Canadian truckers enter this country too. Possibly they
have some better driving habits than the typical US trucker.
RDK
trailer interiors? Hasn't anyone heard about "cross contamination" in
mexico. Would you really want your family eating food or produce being
shipped in these trucks? What do you think will happen to the trucking
economy, Think we have cheap freight now! wait till you see what happens
to the so called 'backhaul freight prices' once these El Cheapo's start
bidding on our freight.
--
remove 'nospam' from address before replying.
bussard
> Roger Shoaf wrote:
>
> >
> > I would not particularly want to drive a truck (or a car for that
matter)
> > into Mexico, because of the corruption, and the hijacking potential. If
the
> > truck got stolen, it would probably never be recovered.
>
Are you sure you are not talking about NYC ???
Mike
David Keenan
What I don't like is that I've seen trucks with Baja plates
driving in the 'dollar lanes', and also have seen pick-ups
(Nissan/Toyota/etc) that have these wrought-iron cages built
up twice as high as the cab roof, and loaded down with so
much stuff that the truck is tilted to one side or the other
(or worse yet: swaying) and driving slowly in other than the
'slow' lanes. At night the tail lights are dim or dark, and
the brake lights/turn signals are a joke. Aside from issues
of contracts and such, I believe that any vehicle and driver
must be accountable for the same laws and common sense that
everyone else is. Actually, I would like to see 'commercial'
standards and rules apply to those huge-a-mongous SUVs and
anything else heavier than three tons. Seeing the Explorer
symbol all of a sudden appear in your vision among the
tinted 'try to see through THIS' window and big butt-end of
painted metal isn't very comforting to me, especially if I
manage to get around front and see someone who is probably
sitting on a dictionary to see over the dash and is busily
nattering on a Nokia or shlurping a Starbucks.
"Chuck U. Farley" <sn...@fubar.com> wrote in message
news:3aa3c1e8$0$11723$45be...@newscene.com...