The Commercial Vehicle Safely Alliance (CVSA) has joined other trucking industry associations in endorsing legislation approved by Congress that provides a safety plan for Mexican trucks entering the United States. The legislation is on the way to the White House where it is expected to be signed by President George W Bush.
CVSA Executive Director, Stephen Campbell, says, "We look forward to working with the U.S. Department of Transportation and our safety enforcement partners in Mexico in helping to implement this new plan," says Stephen Campbell, CVSA executive director.
The border between the United States and Mexico is scheduled to open in January 2002 to commercial vehicles under the terms determined in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Those NAFTA terms had been put on hold since 1993 because of concerns over the safety of Mexican trucks.
New regulations in the plan include conducting on-site safety examinations on 50 percent of Mexican carriers seeking authority to operate in the United States. Other key provisions of the proposed border plan include: incorporating the CVSA program that issues decals to vehicles that meet the inspection standards; phasing in weigh-in-motion systems at the border crossing sites; allowing the carriers to cross the border only at sites where certified motor carrier safety inspectors are on duty; and providing for electronic verification of the license of each driver of a Mexican commercial vehicle hauling hazardous materials and 50 percent of all other drivers.