The agency has said little about the next steps of potential cross-border partnership between the two countries, and the program fell well below the participate level federal officials said they would need to accurately gauge the safety of Mexican carriers operating outside of the border zone.
FMCSA’s program officially began Oct. 14, 2011, when it granted authority to Transportes Olympic. FMCSA said then it would need at least 4,100 inspections on 46 carriers to statistically validate any analysis and make further projections about safety of Mexican carriers in the U.S.
The agency met its target number of inspections — hitting 5,455, as of Sept. 21. But it fell well short of the 46 carriers needed, with just 13 participating currently.
What’s more, of the 54 drivers and 55 trucks authorized to operate in the U.S., one carrier — Servicio de Transporte Internacional y Local — accounted for 55 percent of the inspections (3,027), while another participant, GCC Transportes, accounted for 25 percent of the inspections (1,375).
FMCSA says it’s reviewing the data “with the goal of developing a path forward to ensure safety on our highways while continuing to fulfill our NAFTA obligations.”
The lack of participation also has drawn the ire of at least one trucking trade group.
