Pilot Project on NAFTA Trucking Provisions; Commercial Driver's License Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Mexico |
|---|
Topics: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
|
Anne S. Ferro
Federal Register
October 12, 2011
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63344-63346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26442]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No FMCSA-2011-0097]
Pilot Project on NAFTA Trucking Provisions; Commercial Driver's
License Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Mexico
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Since entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Mexico on November 21, 1991, on the equivalency of a Mexican Licencia
Federal de Conductor (LF) and a commercial driver's license (CDL)
issued in the United States, the U.S. motor carrier safety regulations
have recognized the LF as equivalent to a CDL. As the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) explained in its Federal Register
notice of April 13, 2011 (the April Notice), proposing the requirements
for the United States-Mexico cross border long-haul trucking pilot
program, the Secretary of Transportation will accept only three areas
of Mexican regulation as being equivalent to U.S. regulations. One of
those areas is the reciprocal recognition of the LF and the CDL.
In the Agency's July 8, 2011, Federal Register notice (the July
Notice), however, FMCSA recognized concerns about the on-going
acceptance of the existing CDL MOU and committed to site visits at
Mexican driver training, testing, and licensing locations prior to
beginning the pilot program to review Mexico's on-going compliance with
the terms of the current MOU. The Agency agreed to post reports of
these visits on the FMCSA pilot program Web site at http:/
www.fmcsa.dot.gov/intl-programs/trucking/Trucking-Program.aspx. The
Agency also added copies of the 1991 MOU regarding CDL reciprocity to
the docket for the pilot program.
This notice is provided to summarize the results of the site visits
and make interested parties aware that the report has been posted on
the pilot program Web site and added to the docket for this pilot
program.
ADDRESSES: You may search background documents or comments to the
docket for this notice, identified by docket number FMCSA-2011-0097, by
visiting the:
eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for reviewing documents and comments.
Regulations.gov is available electronically 24 hours each day, 365 days
a year; or
DOT Docket Room: Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the
DOT Headquarters Building at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington,
DC 20590 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
Privacy Act System of Records Notice for the DOT Federal Docket
Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008
(73 FR 3316), or you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcelo Perez, FMCSA, North American
Borders Division, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-
0001. Telephone (512) 916-5440 Ext. 228; e-mail marcelo.perez@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 63345]]
Background
In FMCSA's April Notice (76 FR 20807) proposing the requirements
for the United States-Mexico cross border long-haul trucking pilot
program, the Agency explained that the Secretary of Transportation will
accept only three areas of Mexican regulations as being equivalent to
U.S. regulations. One of these areas is the set of regulations
governing the licensing requirements for the operation of commercial
motor vehicles (CMVs). The United States' acceptance of a Mexican LF
for CMV operations in the United States dates back to November 21,
1991, when the Federal Highway Administrator, who oversaw CMVs at the
time, determined that the Mexican LF is equivalent to a CDL issued by a
State in the United States, revised the Federal motor carrier safety
regulations to recognize the Mexican LF, and entered into an MOU with
Mexico that memorialized the equivalency findings. In its April Notice,
FMCSA explained that the Agency is in the process of updating this MOU.
As part of this process, on February 17, 2011, representatives from
FMCSA, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the American
Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators visited a Mexican driver
license facility, medical qualification facility, and test and
inspection location. During these site visits, FMCSA and its partner
organizations observed Mexico to have rigorous requirements for
knowledge and skills testing that are similar to those in the United
States. In addition, Mexico requires that all new commercial drivers
undergo training prior to testing and requires additional retraining
each time the license is renewed.
In addition, in the Agency's July Notice (76 FR 40420), FMCSA
recognized concerns about the on-going acceptance of the existing CDL
MOU. It committed to additional site visits to Mexican driver training,
testing, and licensing locations prior to beginning the pilot program
to review Mexico's on-going compliance with the terms of the current
MOU. The Agency agreed to post reports of these visits on the FMCSA
pilot program Web site at http:/www.fmcsa.dot.gov/intl-programs/
trucking/Trucking-Program.aspx. The Agency also added the 1991 MOU
regarding CDL reciprocity to the docket for the pilot program.
The MOU Testing Requirements
The MOU requires that before obtaining an LF, a driver must pass a
knowledge test. The areas covered in that test must be comparable to
those in 49 CFR part 383. In addition, the test must have at least 80
questions and a driver must have a minimum score of 80 percent to pass.
The tests must be administered separately for each LF class. The MOU
also requires that before obtaining an LF, a driver must pass a skills
test that is comparable to that in 49 CFR part 383. The skills test
must be given in a CMV that is representative of the LF class of
license sought. Lastly, the skills test must be conducted in on-street
or a combination of on/off street conditions.
During the review process, FMCSA learned that until April 21, 2010,
commercial driver's license testing was conducted by both the
Government of Mexico's Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT)
and private Mexican training centers. Since April 21, 2010, however, a
driver must take his/her test at a private training center rather than
directly from SCT. As a result, while some Mexican drivers have LFs
based on testing from SCT, others have LFs based on testing by private
training centers.
SCT Testing
FMCSA reviewed the database of questions SCT used in its tests and
confirmed that it covered the required subject matter. FMCSA also
confirmed the number of questions on the SCT test, that SCT imposed the
required passing rate of 80 percent, that SCT conducted skills tests in
representative vehicles, and that a portion of SCT skills test included
a demonstration of skills on the highway. Therefore, FMCSA is confident
that SCT-issued tests are in compliance with the CDL MOU.
Training Center Testing
Per SCT, there are 204 SCT-certified training schools for first
issuance LFs in Mexico. Similar to the United States, some of the
certified training schools are public and others are training centers
run by trucking companies. Representatives from FMCSA visited nine
training centers in Mexico in Nuevo Laredo, Tuiltitlan, Veracruz,
Guadaljara, Tijuana (two schools), Monterrey, Tlaxcala and Mexico City.
FMCSA selected these cities based on the number of international LFs
issued and renewed in these locations, the number of cargo drivers
trained in the cities, the number of training centers they cover, the
number of LFs from the cities that are verified in the United States
via the Commercial Driver's License Information System check, and their
general populations. Other factors considered in selecting specific
locations included the number of main trade corridors linking each
location, their geographical position, and proximity to the U.S.
border. The Tlaxcala training center was selected to represent training
centers outside of large urban areas in Mexico.
Prior to the visits, FMCSA requested from SCT a list of drivers who
were trained at the centers between July 2010 and June 2011. The
drivers selected were first time LF applicants for an LF Class B
international license. The list included close to 30,000 drivers. The
review team randomly selected and reviewed driver files at each of the
training centers and the SCT field offices to determine compliance with
the requirements of the MOU. The review team visited each training
center to document whether drivers trained and tested there had to pass
a knowledge and skills test as prescribed in the MOU. The review team
also visited the SCT Field Office corresponding to each of the training
centers. The reviewers confirmed that drivers were licensed to operate
the same class of vehicles on which they were trained.
Based on its review of the nine schools, FMCSA determined that
while the schools were close to full compliance with the terms of the
MOU, there are improvements needed in the schools' testing to ensure
consistent compliance. Specifically, FMCSA discovered two schools that
had passing scores below the required 80 percent threshold; one school
with 71 questions on its exam; and several schools that missed one or
two of the required 20 subject matter areas. The report detailing the
site visits is available at the Agency's Web site for the pilot program
at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/intl-programs/trucking/Trucking-Program.aspx. In addition, the report has been added to the docket for
the pilot program.
FMCSA shared the results of the report with SCT. SCT has committed
to sending out information to all of the testing centers, reminding
them of the MOU requirements and to requiring corrective action from
the testing centers visited. In addition, in six months, FMCSA will be
revisiting the training centers reviewed in the report as well as
additional sites to confirm compliance with the MOU.
FMCSA does not believe that the findings described above compel any
modifications to the pilot program's driver qualification standards
established in the MOU. To implement the program in a manner that will
ensure compliance with those standards and the safety of drivers
seeking to participate in the pilot program, the
[[Page 63346]]
Agency will approve only those drivers who were tested by SCT. If a
driver's original test was conducted by a private training center
rather than by SCT, the driver will be required to be retested by SCT
before he/she may be approved for the pilot program. SCT has agreed to
conduct such testing for the pilot program participant drivers.
Issued on: October 6, 2011.
Anne S. Ferro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011-26442 Filed 10-7-11; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P