Audits

At the request of Senator Ernest Hollings and Representative Jim Oberstar, we provided a status report on the existing conditions related to inspection of commercial vehicles at the border between the United States and Mexico. FMSCA is developing a plan in anticipation of implementing the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We found that: (1) the percentage of Mexican trucks removed from service because of serious safety violations has declined from 44 percent in FY 1997 to 36 percent in FY 2000; (2) FMSCA has increased the authorized number of inspectors at the southern border from 13 in FY 1998 to 60 in FY 2001, and requested 80 additional enforcement personnel in its FY 2002 budget request, and; (3) there have been few needed improvements to inspection facilities used by Federal and state commercial vehicle inspectors at border crossings.