Editors Note: For all the hype and hysteria that has been thrown around out there by the critics of this program, the exaggerations, the bald faced lies, “poor roads” “bandits” , “corrupt cops”, “no drug testing program”, a picture is worth a thousand words, something no one in their right mind can dispute. And seen from the eyes of the owner of Stagecoach, as he debunks more myths of the program, and further raises the credibility of Mexico Trucker, as he confirms what I have been saying for more than a year! I realize the opposition would like for it to be as they believe, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Read on!!!
When the Department of Transportation started its binational trucking program, many on the U.S. side wondered why U.S. truckers would want to drive into Mexico. Why would U.S. carriers send their drivers into unknown territory? And why would their customers spend more for higher-paid U.S. drivers when they had standing relationships with Mexican carriers?
But Scott McLaughlin was interested.
This month, McLaughlin’s El Paso-based Stagecoach Cartage & Distribution became the first U.S. company to send a truck deep into Mexico.
McLaughlin, the company president, followed the truck in a rented car.
“It was memorable. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it,” he said. “It went well. It was a brand-new piece of business I had never been able to service before.”The truck, a 600-cubic-foot bulk tank filled with plastic pellets to be melted into disposable razors, crossed the border at Nogales, Ariz., and headed south to Obregon, near Hermosillo, about 370 miles from the border.
Most trucks now are limited to operating inside a 20-mile-wide border zone.
Under the pilot program that started this month, up to 100 pre-screened Mexican carriers will be allowed onto U.S. roads and up to 100 U.S. carriers onto Mexico roads for a year. So far, two U.S. companies and three Mexican companies have been given permits. Stage coach is the only local company of the bunch.
But the program is under pressure from labor groups and environmentalists on both sides of the border. In the United States, an amendment to the Transportation Spending Bill could kill all funding for the pilot program if the bill passes.John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, vowed to continue issuing permits until otherwise ordered.
“Mexican trucking companies, vehicles and drivers are meeting or exceeding the tough standards in place for this program — as well as those in place for U.S. truckers — to maintain safety on American roads,” he said in a statement. “Under the demonstration project, companies and consumers from both countries are benefiting from new markets and more efficient trade across our shared border.”
Thousands of Mexican commercial trucks already operate every day in U.S. border cities such as San Diego and El Paso, Hill pointed out.
Last year, such trucks made more than 4 million crossings into the United States. U.S. commercial trucks, however, had never had the authority to operate in Mexico.
A historic trip
McLaughlin wanted to be ahead of the curve, but he didn’t necessarily want to be first.
In the highly controversial atmosphere surrounding the trucking program, he would have been happy maintaining a lower profile. But it was not to be.
It all started when McLaughlin, intrigued about the announced pilot program, e-mailed Hill.
He was referred to the Mexican transportation department, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. After about 2åmonths of gathering and translating documents and guiding Mexican inspectors through the Stagecoach truck terminal on El Paso’s East Side, McLaughlin received the word. His company would get the first permit.
“That’s what gave us the last push, because it was pretty trying the last couple of days,” said John Plote, director of equipment maintenance at Stagecoach. Plote worked on the project.
McLaughlin said he spent “not a small amount of money” on getting into the pilot.
On Sept. 14, one of Stagecoach’s 200-plus trucks went through Mexican customs in Nogales with shiny new Mexican plates. The thorough inspection lasted several hours, and the two Stagecoach drivers were tested for drugs and alcohol on the spot.
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, McLaughlin said.
The roads were “excellent,” but the drivers encountered no fewer than four tolls in the 370 miles to their destination, and truck stop facilities were lacking.
Customs officials and highway police were very friendly, McLaughlin said.
“They seemed glad to see it finally going through,” he said.
Under NAFTA, the border was to open up to trucks more than 10 years ago, but lawsuits by the Teamsters and other U.S. groups stalled the process.
Special cargo
Driving into Mexico means competing with Mexican carriers that pay their drivers a fraction of what American drivers receive.
Such cross-border trips won’t be an everyday occurrence, at least not for another 15 to 20 years, McLaughlin predicted.
But U.S. companies can still find a competitive niche now.
“It would be worth it for specialized transportation. Some companies may want the same trucks to go all the way,” he said. “Our goal is not to be cheaper; it’s to offer specialized service.”
For more-common assignments, Stagecoach will continue to work with Mexican partners, McLaughlin said.
Such binational business arrangements are common on the border, where drayage is the rule. Drayage consists of shuttling cargo from Mexico to warehouses in El Paso and turning it over to U.S. drivers, who take it farther inland.
Mexican companies are looking into some special cross-border shipments as well.
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, or GCC, a Mexico cement maker with several plants in the United States, also enrolled in the pilot trucking program and awaits a permit to send trucks into the United States.
“That wouldn’t be for regular portland cement. It would be for specialty cement that we produce in Mexico and sell in the United States,” said Humberto Urranga, a spokesman for the company.
No rush
McLaughlin said the response to his test trip was overwhelmingly positive. Clients asked for quotes for Mexico service, and drivers volunteered for future trips.
But McLaughlin has no immediate plans to send other trucks south.
“We wanted to get in early. We wanted to position ourselves, understand what it takes,” he said.
After initially worrying about their livelihood, American truckers seemed to be trying to figure out the possibilities.
Albert Luna, owner and president of Sky Transportation of El Paso, said he did not relish the idea of delivering cargo into Mexico.
But “if I have to get down and dirty and compete with the Mexican guys and go into the interior (of Mexico) and all the way back, I can do that,” he said. “You put it all into one package and it becomes one price, so you can compete in Mexico and make it up on the U.S. side.”
Luna, who has not registered for the pilot program, said U.S. trucks may have an edge because they may be more fuel-efficient than Mexican trucks.
The participants in the pilot program are restricted to cross-border shipments and forbidden to take on deliveries from two in-country points, a practice known as cabotage.
