NOGALES – On a Monday morning one year ago,
five uniformed officers from the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Enforcement
and Compliance Division drove south, crossing the Mexican border at San Luis
south of Yuma on a mission that had never been attempted.
Their task: Make Arizona roads safer and boost
the state’s economy by training Mexican truck drivers and mechanics – in Mexico
– about the safety regulations they must follow to drive on U.S. roads.
In its first year, the International Border
Inspection Qualification program has made a dramatic difference in the number
of violations found during safety inspections, the number of trucks pulled off
the road for significant repairs and the amount of time drivers spend waiting
at the border before they can deliver their products to U.S. markets.
“This collaboration with the Mexican trucking
industry makes crossing the border safer for everyone,” ADOT Director John
Halikowski said. “It also supports the growth of Arizona’s economy and makes
crossing the border more efficient for commercial trucking. The dramatic
improvements we have seen in just one year show the commitment of our officers
and the trucking community to this important program.”
In 16 two-day training sessions over the past
12 months, safety inspectors have taught 409 truck drivers and mechanics from
Mexico such things as how to secure a load properly and how to know when tires
and brakes are too badly worn. Six more sessions are scheduled in Mexico before
the end of 2018.
The training follows
Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance guidelines, which are the standard for
commercial motor vehicles across the U.S., used by every state and federal
agency.
The numbers for these 409 drivers shout success:
·
They have crossed the border 5,253
times since their training.
·
In all of those crossings, inspectors
have found just 130 minor violations.
·
Only 11 times have their trucks been
pulled out of service for significant safety concerns.
·
June is one of three months so far in
2018 when no drivers who were qualified through the program had significant
safety violations.
There’s more to the story.
Drivers who complete the training and pass
written and field exams are able to communicate with inspectors using the WhatsApp
smartphone application. That process has
been used 118 times, allowing drivers to ask questions and make repairs before
approaching the border, saving what could have been time wasted waiting.
The program stems from ADOT’s use of the
Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey to have all
employees continuously improve state agencies’ value to their customers.
ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit, created in 2016,
also has continued shorter training sessions at Arizona’s three border ports of
entry in San Luis, Nogales and Douglas. Nearly 2,000 drivers, mechanics and
company owners have attended those sessions.
Drivers from Mexico have praised ADOT for
giving them information they need to reduce inspection times and get on their
way. The business community in Nogales has praised the program for increasing
commercial truck traffic and bringing more business to Santa Cruz County. And
drivers all across Arizona are safer because the trucks sharing the road with
them are safer.
Companies and communities in Mexico are
continuing to request that training sessions be held in their areas. Of the six
programs scheduled over the rest of 2018, only one is scheduled near the
Arizona border. Three programs are scheduled in Mexicali, Baja California, and
single sessions are scheduled in Caborca and Hermosillo in Sonora.
“We’re getting requests from places away from
the Arizona border – Mexicali, Ensenada, Caborca,” said Tim Lane, director of
ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division. “That shows how well the program
has been accepted not only in Sonora but across Mexico.”
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