Mexico Trucker Online

WASHINGTON – Qualcomm has won a federal contract to provide a satellite-based tracking system for U.S. and Mexican trucks participating in a contentious experiment that opens the border to long-haul commercial traffic.

Federal officials said yesterday that the San Diego-based company’s OmniTRACS system will allow the U.S. government to closely monitor trucks from both countries, including compliance with regulations that prohibit truckers from driving more than 11 hours per day.

Although Qualcomm is best-known for its prominent role as a chip-maker in the wireless industry, the company also is a major designer of satellite tracking systems for vehicles.

Qualcomm will provide tracking technology for 100 trucks at a cost of $367,000, officials said.

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This is an update to an earlier post which gives more specifics about this plan of the FMCSA!
I want to make a couple of glaringly valid points about this article.

First, this is nothing new! The majority of line haul carriers in Mexico already have Qualcomm communications installed in their trucks. This is the standard that others system strive to compare with. And with long distances between major cities in Mexico, this is a “must have” piece of equipment for Mexican fleets. The same holds true for U.S. carriers. The majority of U.S. and Canadian carriers have these devices.

So the question that Lesley Miller, spokesperson for the Teamsters poses, “Where will they get the money”? Don’t need any! The systems are already in most of the rigs. All it will require is a software adjustment. The only money needed will be to establish the operations center to monitor these trucks. And people, you may think they cut off funding for this program, but, the program is already established. The bill has not been reconciled and still faces veto and the money is available. Ms Millers comments further prove that the Teamsters opposition to Mexican trucks has nothing to do with safety or compliance. The Teamsters are simply scared of a little competition

WASHINGTON — Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. will provide a satellite-based tracking system for all trucks participating in a U.S.-Mexico pilot project that for the first time allows the vehicles unlimited access to the other nation’s roads.

But critics of the trade agreement on Thursday questioned how the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will pay for the technology since both houses of Congress separately voted to cut off funding for it.

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