Final OIG Report on Cross Border Trucking reveals no reason not to comply and allow Mexican trucks full access

The long awaited final report on the cross border program was released today by the Office of Inspector General of the USDOT and the results reveal there is absolutely no reason for the United States not to comply with their obligations to allow Mexican trucks full and equal access to this country.

As expected, the OIG arrived at the conclusion that FMCSA lacked an adequate number of Mexico-domiciled pilot program carriers to yield statistically valid findings for the pilot program. Contrary to some naysayers that claim Mexican trucking companies have no interest in operating in the United States, FMCSA officials said the termination of the previous demonstration project, the temporary status of the pilot program, increased interest in existing types of operating authorities, and lack of established business relationships in the United States resulted in less interest in the pilot program. The OIG seemingly concurred with this explanation which has long been our position but said as a result of the low participation, they could not determine with confidence whether the 15 carriers are representative. Without being able to determine the representativeness of the 15 carriers, one cannot project the safety performance for the population of Mexico-domiciled carriers that may qualify for long-haul operating authority in the future.

Despite all the objections by groups such as the TEAMSTERS, OOIDA and their bogus and irrelevant safety groups that allied themselves, the OIG found no reason to criticize the manner in which the Pilot Program was managed.

The OIG report stated:

• FMCSA established sufficient monitoring and enforcement activities for its pilot
  program to ensure compliance with Section 350(a) requirements and to address
  recommendations from our previous audits of the pilot program.
• FMCSA established a sufficient mechanism, an internal analysis of carrier safety
  data, to determine whether the pilot program had adverse effects on motor carrier
  safety. The OIG review confirmed FMCSA’s conclusion that pilot program participants
  performed no worse than United States and Canadian motor carriers, as well as
  Mexico-domiciled and Mexican-owned motor carriers with existing authority to
  operate within the United States
• FMCSA’s internal analysis of carrier data found that pilot program participant
  carriers, as well as an estimated 1,000 Mexico-domiciled and Mexican-owned
  motor carriers with existing authority to operate within the United States,
  performed no worse than United States and Canadian carriers.
• FMCSA’s total count of pilot program inspections included those of non-pilot
  program drivers operating pilot program trucks in the commercial zone, but these
  additional data do not alter our conclusion that participant carriers operated safely
  during the pilot program

Based on this report it is obvious that those who have objected to and blocked US compliance with our international obligations through lies, bogus and frivolous lawsuits and lobbying efforts in Congress have lost and it’s time to face up to our obligations and grant national access to those from Mexico who desire to operate in this country under our rules. Otherwise, bring on the $38 billion in tariffs that CANACAR is seeking for our non-compliance.

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This post is part of the thread: Mexico Trucking - an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.