FMCSA acceptance of corresponding Mexico Law and Regs

List of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Laws and Regulations for Which FMCSA Will Accept Compliance With a Corresponding Mexican Law or Regulation

The Secretary of Transportation will accept only three areas of Mexican regulations as being equivalent to United States regulations.

The first area is the regulations governing Mexican Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL).

The U.S. acceptance of a Mexican CDL, known as the Licencia Federal de Conductor, dates back to November 21, 1991, when the Federal HighwayAdministrator determined that the

Mexican CDLs are equivalent to the standards of the U.S. regulations.

Mexico will disqualify a driver’s CDL for safety infractions or testing positive for the use of drugs. However, since Mexico’s disqualification standards are not identical to U.S. standards, FMCSA,

working with the States, has developed a system to monitor the performance of Mexican drivers while in the U.S. And take steps to disqualify these drivers if they incur violations that would result in a U.S. driver’s license being suspended. Therefore, the U.S. is not relying solely on Mexico’s disqualification standards, but is imposing its own standards in addition to any disqualifications that may be taken by the Mexican government.

Second, the Secretary of Transportation will also consider that physical examinations conducted by Mexican doctors and drug testing specimens collected by Mexican collection facilities are equivalent to

examinations and test specimens conducted or collected in the United States. In Mexico, in order to obtain the Licencia Federal de Conductor a driver must meet the requirements established by the Ley de Caminos, Puentes y Autotransporte Federal (LCPAF or Roads, Bridges and Federal Motor

Carrier Transportation Act) Article 36, and Reglamento de Autotransporte Federal y Servicios Auxiliares (RAFSA, or Federal Motor Carrier Transportation Act) Article 89, which state a Mexican

driver must pass the medical exam performed by Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), Directorship General of Protection and Prevention Medicine in Transportation (DGPMPT). This is the same medical exam performed on applicants in all modes of transportation

(airline pilots, merchant mariners, and locomotive operators). It is conducted by government doctors instead of the private physicians performing the examination on U.S. drivers.

Third, controlled substances testing in Mexico is also conducted by personnel from Mexico’s SCT. The U.S. DOT and SCT have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which Mexico has agreed to collect drug testing specimens using U.S. Specimen collection procedures and U.S. collection forms. The U.S. DOT has translated its drug testing collection forms into Spanish as part of this MOU.

While to date all Mexican carriers that have undergone a PASA from the FMCSA are sending their drivers to U.S. collection facilities, the Secretary of Transportation would accept a drug test using a specimen collected in Mexico using our forms and procedures.

Related posts:

1. FMCSA voice concerns over minor issues with Mexican Driver Testing Centers
2. Comment Spammers hit FMCSA comment section on proposed Cross Border Pilot Program
3. FMCSA Plans August Restart for Mexico Trucks Program
4. FMCSA refuses demand by OOIDA to delay cross border program with Mexico
5. FMCSA denies TEAMSTERS request for comment period extension on Cross Border Trucking proposal