Border Scrutiny of Trucks Seen Tougher

The inspector general of the Transportation Department was to issue a report Monday on whether the U.S.-Mexican border is ready to be opened under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Mexican truckers say safety inspections are becoming routine at Nogales, Arizona's busiest border crossing, which already has 10 federal inspectors and three more expected. A second level of scrutiny is provided by state inspectors.

The Daily Star reported some companies say the situation is in sharp contrast to that of four years, when there was little chance of a Mexican truck being inspected at the crossing.

On any given day, the paper said, most trucks are not selected for inspection, but drivers who repeatedly cross the border say they are inspected at least once every couple of weeks.

The Transportation Department is supposed to hire 214 more inspectors borderwide, before the expected opening. Whether it has done so is one of several questions the inspector general's report is supposed to answer.

The report is also to assess four other questions, including whether the department has found a way of ensuring that Mexican drivers follow hours-of-service rules, and whether it can determine that Mexican commercial drivers' licenses are properly issued and monitored.

Meanwhile, a separate DOT report released Monday said that, between 2000 and 2001, the number of trucks entering the U.S. from Mexico and Canada fell for the first time since Nafta was enacted.

The report said that the number of trucks crossing the border dropped in every month except January, with declines at certain border ports being linked to increased security following September's terrorist attacks.

Overall, 11.1 million trucks entered the United States in 2001, down from 11.6 million the year before. Crossings fell 3.8% at the Canadian border and 4.9% at the Mexican frontier, the report said.

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