Two trucking associations have joined together to ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate whether or not their industry is being harmed by Mexican based trucking suppliers.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters asked the commission to adopt rules that would implement provisions within the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that would allow it to look into whether Mexico-based trucking companies are damaging the trucking industry in America.
“We believe prompt adoption of these interim rules will enhance and expedite the investigation process outlined in USMCA,” said OOIDA President, Todd Spencer. “Because Mexico-based trucking companies and drivers are not held to the same, rigorous U.S. safety and security regulations, they are endangering the American public and taking away jobs and profits from American drivers and carriers.”
The groups said they were concerned the Mexican-based companies were not only negatively impacting trucking business but were also a danger to Americans on the road.
According to their letter, because Mexican trucking companies are not held to the same licensing, inspection, vehicular, environmental, and operational regulations as American truckers are, the Mexica-based trucking companies are endangering the American public. The organizations cited 2016 U.S. DOT safety statistics that showed the crash rate for Mexico-based carriers was 2.8 times higher than U.S. carriers.
The groups also said Mexico-based carriers were going beyond the border commercial zones, jeopardizing American jobs and businesses.
“There is particular concern regarding violation of cabotage regulations which restrict Mexican carriers from making point-to-point deliveries within in the U.S. We believe that neither the federal government nor the states are properly enforcing these cabotage and labor laws which further exacerbates the threat of Mexican motor carriers and drivers to U.S. businesses, jobs, and compensation. We are hopeful that the required surveys of operating authority will provide much-needed information and analysis on specific interstate routes being utilized by cross-border operators,” the organizations said in their letter.
The two groups also called on Congress to increase the International Trade Commission’s 2020 funding by $2.75 million.