NAFTA, MOTOR CARRIERS AND HIGHWAY SAFETY.

INTRODUCTION The signing of the NAFTA agreement in December 1993 marked the beginning of a new era in North American trade relations. However, the benefits of these new trade relationships hinge on free access to markets. While the intent of the NAFTA agreement was to lower and in time to virtually eliminate political and legal barriers to trade, the physical barriers to the cross-border flow of goods remain problematic. One physical barrier to the free flow of goods is the lack of adequate infrastructure. It will take a commitment and considerable financial investment to alleviate this problem. The second barrier is the unwillingness and/or inability of many Mexican transportation providers, specifically motor carriers, to meet U.S. safety and operating standards. Expressing concerns that the planned December 1995 opening of the four U.S. and six Mexican border states to the free flow of traffic would compromise the safety of American highways, Teamsters Union representatives and highway safety groups advocated that the border states not be opened until the safety issue was rectified. As a result President Clinton opted not to open the border states to the free flow of traffic as had been scheduled under the NAFTA agreement. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, the safety concerns which have precipitated the present conflict over the advisability of opening the border states to unrestricted transportation movement or of continuing to restrict movement to the narrow commercial zone currently in place will be presented. Secondly, the short and long term economic implications of opening the border for the free movement of motor carriers for both Mexican and U.S. shippers and carriers will be discussed. Following an overview of the progress toward opening the border, the factors which have been identified as contributing to the accident rate of motor carriers will be examined. Data regarding out-of-service violations for Mexican motor carriers will then be compared to the identified accident contribution factors. This will provide the necessary background for extending the discussion to the specific economic impact of motor carrier safety and the implementation of NAFTA provisions for the free access of motor carriers to markets in all areas of North America. SITUATIONAL OVERVIEW The Government Accounting Office has conducted two studies examining the state of safety inspections and safety inspection procedures at the U.S./Mexican border crossings in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The first report, issued February 29, 1996, focused on providing an update on the status of harmonizing safety regulations, operating and enforcement practices, and the readiness of state and federal agencies to enforce compliance with U.S. trucking regulations ("Commercial Trucking, ..." 1996). It was felt that these represented the greatest impediment to implementing the first phase of the NAFTA agreement which expands the free access trade zone of the U.S./Mexican border (Exhibit 1) to the total area of the ten border states (Exhibit 2). The data for this report was collected between June 1995 and Jan. 1996. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At the time that this report was issued, it was determined that enough progress had not been made to justify expanding cross border traffic beyond the existing commercial zone. Specific concerns which were highlighted included the incompatibility of trucking regulations between the U.S. and Mexico (Exhibit 3), the lack of uniform enforcement practices between the U.S. and Mexico (Exhibit 4), the lack of inspection facilities on the U.S. side of the border (Exhibit 5), and the lack of inspection on the Mexican side of the border. The numbers of Mexican truckers whose vehicles have been restricted from highway service until safety violations have been remedied has ranged from 50 to 63 percent. This high rate of safety violations has been cited by political, union, and consumer groups as a major cause for concern. …