The national experiment in clean transportation run by President Obama's transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, that is supposed to change the trucking industry in the United States will soon start to impact those cross-border Mexican truckers that do long hauls in California. Now that Mexico and the United States are on friendy terms again, the tarriff on imports into Mexico lifted in exchange for open passage through the border states to do long hauls, the EPA emissions standards that Mexican trucks have to pass before they start their American hauling will become more difficult to meet.
On September 15, the EPA and the NHTSA at the transportation department issued heavy duty truck standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency that will go into effect on November 14. When President Obama was instructing the EPA and NHTSA in a memorandum written on May 21, 2010, he said, "America has the opportunity to lead the world in the development of a new generation of clean cars and trucks through innovative technologies and manufacturing."
Bringing in Mexico on the clean tranportation plan could give the Obama administration more credit. The EPA admits the emissions problem is an international one. Both the EPA and the NHTSA have been given time to work with Mexico on a program that can compare to the United States' program.
Trucking companies that use tractor-trailer trucks, pick up trucks and vans to do deliveries past the commerical zones near the border do not have any more time to plan on meeting the older less strict EPA standards. Small businesses that use vocational vehicles have to change old habits and get ready to follow the same rules.
November 14 is just four months after Secretary LaHood on July 6 began the months long process of approving Mexican trucks for hauls on the U. S. highways. After they pass the mandatory pre-authority safety audit that includes the EPA emissions test, the drivers have 18 months to haul and then get a compliance review they have to pass before they get a permanent operating authorization.
For domestic truckers, the costs of using clean technologies and the money saved in fuel costs are supposed to offset. According to the administration, truckers that drive the heavy duty trucks that weigh above 8,500 pounds could even save money.
But, Mexican truckers have to meet only the EPA greenhouse gas standards, that are part of the cross-border trucking deal made between the two countries, not the NHTSA fuel efficiency standards. They might contribute to a lowering of the carbon dioxide emissions along the highways and at terminals and stops and not save any money in fuel costs.
This new approach that the federal government recommends for the trucking industry comes at a crucial time for truckers that cross the U. S.-Mexico border near San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and Calexico, often spending 15 minutes to hours idling at the border, and then drive long routes up the state. Mexican drivers might face steep costs to get authorization and take wearying trips in sleeper cab trucks.
Companies that already put their cash down on their fleet have lost the business opportunity they thought they had.
Yet another local positon on a federal mandate has to be resolved by San Diego's politicans. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) joined Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in advisng the transportation departmet to limit the time for the pilot program for cross-border trucking to three years to give the Homeland Security Departmet an opportunity to address the safety and security concerns, including opening up the border cities to more violence that has its roots in Mexico, before the long haul authorizations become permanent. The early weeks following the final notice on the EPA standards are a time he will be in the public judgment seat again.
So will Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) who opposed the pilot program, worried that the increased import trucking would add to the congestion and wait times at the San Diego border. The issue is not something either of the border city politicians can avoid.
The key agreement made in NAFTA to open up the border for the movement of goods and services by truck still has to hold good. The administration's standards do not give truckers from both sides of the border an equal mandate on clean transportation.
Opportunity to advance trucking operations run by both Americans and Mexicans? Or bad economics during the recovery? An adaptation to the new standards will take investments in technologies that cost enough to have an effect on the bottom line.
This is an On The Watch Take.
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