Truck Traffic From Mexico Under NAFTA

The Times in its Jan. 2 editorial, “Traffic With Big Benefits,” is right about one thing: Implementing the trucking provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement would have a real financial “payoff”--for the giant trucking corporations. For the working families of California, the move would exact a high toll.

Under current rules, Mexican trucks are confined to a narrow strip along the border where freight is transferred to American trucks for delivery throughout the U.S. The trucking part of NAFTA would permit unsafe trucks from Mexico to travel anywhere in California and the other border states.

There was nothing arbitrary about the Clinton administration’s decision in December 1995 to delay this portion of NAFTA. It was shelved because of the threat to highway safety, the environment and jobs.

Big trucking interests are lobbying hard to get the delay lifted so they can exploit Mexican truck drivers who are paid as little as $7 a day, a move that would destroy thousands of good California jobs.

Lifting the delay also would threaten highway safety, despite Gov. Pete Wilson’s assurances to the contrary. Mexican trucks on average are three times older than U.S. trucks and up to twice as heavy. They are not required to comply with the same emissions standards, and many are not properly insured to operate in the United States.

Drivers from Mexico are not required to have the same special training to transport hazardous materials as U.S. drivers, in spite of the fact that up to one in four trucks from Mexico carries toxic or hazardous materials. Mexican drivers are not subject to the same tough rules for drug and alcohol testing. There are no limits on their hours of service in Mexico.

All of these problems add up to one simple conclusion: The trucking provisions must be set aside permanently and renegotiated to protect highway safety, environmental quality and good jobs on both sides of the border.

RON CAREY, General President

International Brotherhood

of Teamsters, Washington