PHOENIX – An Arizona Department of Transportation program that helps truck drivers in Mexico better understand and prepare for safety inspections at the border is using technology to provide virtual training during the current public health situation.

The goal of this training offered by ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit is reducing commercial vehicle wait times at the international border by cutting down on safety problems and other issues that truck drivers must address before leaving commercial ports of entry. That helps make Arizona’s ports more appealing places for trucks to enter the U.S.

Part of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division, which operates commercial ports of entry, the Border Liaison Unit offered its first training by webinar recently for 30 trucking companies from the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. More sessions are planned.

“The webinar was a huge success,” said Officer Frank Cordova of the Border Liaison Unit. “We’re looking to make webinar-based workshops a staple of the training we provide, as it allows us to reach even further into Mexico and the U.S. to continue educating the commercial industry.”

The Border Liaison Unit saw an increase in inquiries from Mexican truckers regarding current emergency restrictions and exemptions for commercial vehicles due to COVID-19. Future sessions will cover safety training previously conducted in person such as electronic log books and critical items officers look for in inspections.

That assistance complements International Border Inspection Qualification training that ADOT has offered in person since 2016. Drivers certified through that program are able to share questions and pictures of their vehicles via WhatsApp and communicate with ADOT officers about potential safety issues before driving to the border.  

Meeting this demand with a webinar helps ADOT officers and commercial truck drivers observe social distancing. Longer-term, offering virtual instruction reduces travel expenses.

“I’m very proud of this unit for finding ways to continue to work with our local and international partners in the trucking industry,” Cordova said. “Even a pandemic won’t keep us from doing the job we’re passionate about.” 

PHOENIX – Two years after launching a first-of-its-kind truck safety training program for drivers and companies in Mexico, the Arizona Department of Transportation has added refresher instruction for those who have been through the program.

ADOT launched the International Border Inspection Qualification in 2017 by sending trained officers from commercial ports of entry into Mexico to provide instruction, in Spanish, on safety regulations. The goals: reducing violations that can lead to delays for truckers from Mexico and making state highways safer by allowing ADOT officers to focus on vehicles needing the most attention.

Since the program launched, the nearly 700 drivers with the qualification have crossed the border a combined 15,000 times with just 49 major safety violations. In addition to what they gain from the training, qualified drivers can communicate with officers before approaching the border using WhatsApp, a smartphone application, to learn whether a potential safety issue needs to be addressed before heading to a commercial port of entry at the Arizona-Mexico border.

To build on that momentum, ADOT recently launched a six-hour requalification class for those who have been through the program. Beyond an initial offering in Hermosillo, Sonora, ADOT will offer the requalification class this year in Douglas in Arizona and Ensenada, Puerto Penasco and San Luis in Mexico.

“These drivers and their companies opened the door for tremendous improvements in safety among hundreds of truckers who cross the border into Arizona every day,” said Mark Sanders, director of international programs for ADOT. “This follow-up instruction allows them to keep their knowledge up-to-date while the overall program continues fostering more efficient trade between Arizona and Mexico.”

The refresher course covers in brief the main points covered in the original qualification class. Topics include the proper working order of brakes, wheels, tires, suspension and electrical systems, as well as how to properly secure loads and other general information.

The refresher training also covers new federal or state regulations pertaining to commercial trucking.

Identifying and repairing safety violations before they result in delays at the border saves trucking companies time and money and encourages drivers to cross the border in Arizona, a boon for the state’s economy.

The program has seen considerable expansion in the past year. ADOT officers held the first International Border Inspection Qualification for the maquiladora industry and held their first training in Baja, California, and Hermosillo, Sonora.

PHOENIX – An innovative truck safety training program is continuing to make Arizona roads safer 18 months after Arizona Department of Transportation enforcement officers began taking their important messages to Mexican truck drivers south of the border.

More than 11,000 times in the past 18 months, Mexican truck drivers who have completed ADOT’s rigorous, two-day International Border Inspection Qualification have used the agency’s commercial ports of entry in Nogales, San Luis and Douglas. These qualified drivers have been stopped for significant safety violations just 31 times, or once in every 355 crossings.

ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division launched the program, the first by any state department of transportation to provide safety inspection training in Mexico, with a goal of making Arizona roads safer while supporting the flow of commerce. The state-certified law enforcement officers who staff ADOT’s commercial ports of entry along the international border teach drivers and mechanics from Mexico about the safety requirements for driving commercial trucks in Arizona.

The program has been a tremendous success by any measure, including the 576 drivers who have received the qualification, said Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division.

“The improved safety record of drivers who have completed the training shows that our training program is very effective, and that the drivers attending our sessions are taking the process very seriously,” Lane said. “We are making a positive impact on safety on Arizona roads.”

There have been 25 two-day training sessions, and nine more sessions are scheduled over the next seven months. In addition, ADOT officers will offer seven requalification classes – one-day refresher programs for drivers who have completed the International Border Inspection Qualification.

Another innovation allows qualified drivers to communicate with ADOT officers before approaching the border using WhatsApp, a smartphone application. Drivers have used the app 233 times so far, with about 80 percent of those contacts revealing safety violations. Allowing truckers to perform repairs before approaching the border saves companies time and money.

NOGALES – More than 1,300 truck drivers from Mexico have now completed training from Arizona Department of Transportation safety inspectors through an innovative program that is making Arizona’s inspection process more efficient and Arizona roads safer.

That number includes drivers trained at Arizona border ports of entry in Douglas, Nogales and San Luis, as well as about 320 drivers trained in a unique two-day training program at locations in Mexico. More than 30 additional drivers are expected to attend a training session in Nogales, Sonora, in the first week of April.

“The large numbers of drivers from Mexico who continue to ask for safety training from our officers is a testimony about how important and how effective this program has become in less than two years,” said Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division.

ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit began conducting classes in fall 2016 to educate truck drivers and company leaders from Mexico about safety inspection requirements for drivers who cross the international border. These half-day classes, held in Arizona, address such things as acceptable tire wear and securing loads.

On July 31, 2017, inspectors began taking the classes to convenient locations in Mexico to reach even more drivers. International Border Inspection Qualification classes in Mexico take two days and require drivers to pass written and field exams to become qualified.

Qualified drivers earn the right to contact inspectors using a smartphone application, WhatsApp. Drivers can send photos and ask questions before approaching the border so they can make any needed repairs more conveniently and more affordably on their own property. So far, 83 drivers have communicated with inspectors using WhatsApp, and 75 have used the information to prevent their trucks from being removed for service for repairs.

The classes are popular with the Mexican trucking industry. In February drivers from Mexicali, Baja California, travelled about 100 miles to take part in the IBIQ program in San Luis. Other classes have been held as far south as the Sonoran capital of Hermosillo.

The impact of the program has been dramatic. Historically, about 5 percent of drivers who enter Arizona from Mexico have their trucks stopped at the border for needed safety repairs. But among IBIQ qualified drivers, trucks have been stopped just eight times in about 2,400 border crossings – about one-third of 1 percent.

In addition, Arizona inspectors can focus their efforts on higher risk trucks, such as those with a history of violations and those with non-IBIQ drivers. That resulted in more safety violations discovered despite fewer intensive 37-point inspections.

“We are stopping unsafe trucks from driving on Arizona roads, but at the same time we are encouraging international commerce by not unnecessarily delaying trucks by qualified drivers,” Lane said.

ADOT Director John Halikowski praised the program as an example of binational collaboration that benefits both Arizona and Sonora. That collaboration also led to the creation of Mexico’s first safety corridor on the road from Arizona to Rocky Point, Sonora. Mexico implemented the safety corridor March 5 after getting traffic incident management training from ADOT leaders.

The International Border Inspection Qualification program stems from ADOT’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey. This approach to continuous improvement empowers employees at state agencies to come up with innovative ways to better serve customers.

LUKEVILLE – Arizona Department of Transportation expertise is helping officials in the Mexican state of Sonora promote safety on the highway leading to beaches in Puerto Peñasco.

ADOT representatives visited Mexico recently to train first responders, the military and government officials on Traffic Incident Management, which promotes quickly clearing incident scenes when appropriate as well as safeguards for motorists and emergency workers. Traffic Incident Management techniques have been shown to reduce secondary crashes that often are more serious than the initial incidents.

The next step of this binational partnership is Sonora creating a safety corridor before spring break season along the 63 miles of Mexico Route 8, which many Arizonans take south from Lukeville.

“This historic collaboration between ADOT and our Sonoran counterparts, including Governor Claudia Pavlovich, on the creation of the safety corridor is great for Arizona,” said Juan Ciscomani, senior adviser to Governor Doug Ducey on International and Regional Affairs and leader of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. “It's these kinds of collaborative cross-border solutions that help us ensure that our infrastructure and our region are as safe as possible.”

The safety corridor will be enforced by Mexican law enforcement and military officials. ADOT is providing training for those officials based on the agency’s experience clearing crashes and restoring traffic flow on Arizona highways.

Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division, said the idea came up when ADOT officials were in Hermosillo, Sonora, providing training that helps truck drivers better understand and prepare for safety inspections conducted at ADOT’s commercial ports of entry.

“We started talking about creating a safety corridor, and leaders from both Arizona and Sonora liked the idea right away,” Lane said. “We hope to learn from each other and make a safer environment for everyone.”

Other plans for the safety corridor on Mexico Route 8 include road signs with safety messages in Spanish and English and a pilot program that will have Sonora sharing information from that area to 511 and ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site az511.gov.

Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, is a popular destination for Arizonans. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 910,000 people entered Arizona at Lukeville during the first 10 months of 2017, many of them Arizonans returning from visits to Rocky Point.

NOGALES – Drivers in Mexico who have completed innovative safety instruction offered by the Arizona Department of Transportation are proving far less likely to be flagged for safety violations when their vehicles arrive at international ports of entry.

It’s a dramatic improvement that’s saving international carriers time and money, making Arizona roads safer and helping Arizona better appeal to drivers who might otherwise use ports in California or Texas.

In December, the 106 drivers with International Border Inspection Qualification training who entered the U.S. through commercial ports operated by ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division did so without a safety violation that required taking their trucks out of service for repairs.

Since August when the program began training drivers in Mexico, just two of 667 qualified drivers – 0.3 percent – have entered Arizona with a violation that required immediate repairs. The rate is about 5 percent among other commercial drivers using ADOT’s international ports.

Through ADOT’s International Border Inspection Qualification, the first such program in the U.S., Enforcement and Compliance Division inspectors made eight trips into Mexico in 2017 to educate international truck drivers and company leaders about safety requirements for trucks driving on Arizona roads. More training is scheduled in Mexico for 2018, including three sessions  in February.

“This outstanding program has been great both for Arizona and for our neighbors in Sonora,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “In addition to making roads across Arizona safer, we are reducing inspection times and making Arizona’s international ports more appealing to commercial carriers.”

The class has the support of Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich and Mexican trucking leaders.

ADOT inspectors check every commercial truck entering the U.S. at Nogales, Douglas and San Luis for safety violations. The most serious violations require that trucks remain at the port of entry until repairs can be made, a costly process that can cause significant delays for commercial carriers.

In addition, drivers who complete the International Border Inspection Qualification can use the Whats App smartphone app to contact inspectors with questions before they approach the border. That allows companies to make needed repairs more economically before drivers get on the road.

Another benefit of the program: More drivers are choosing to enter the U.S. through Arizona’s ports instead of those in other states. Meanwhile, being able to focus on higher-risk vehicles has allowed ADOT officers to find more violations despite needing to conduct fewer high-level inspections.

“More trucks entering the country in Arizona means an even greater boost to our economy,” Halikowski said. “Those drivers use more services and buy more items in our state, which helps not only border communities but all of Arizona.”

The International Border Inspection Qualification program stems from ADOT’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Gov. Doug Ducey. This approach to continuous improvement empowers employees at state agencies to come up with innovative ways to better serve customers.

PHOENIX – An Arizona Department of Transportation safety training program for commercial vehicle drivers using international ports of entry is proving so popular with trucking companies and government officials in Mexico that ADOT has doubled the number of training sessions planned for this fall.

“Trade with Mexico is one way our highways are Key Commerce Corridors that drive Arizona’s economy,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “With the support of officials in Sonora, Mexico, we are expanding a program that’s boosting international commerce while ensuring that commercial vehicles are safe.

Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division, which conducts truck safety inspections at commercial ports of entry, said 46 commercial vehicle drivers attended the International Border Inspection Qualification program in the Sonoran capital of Hermosillo on Aug. 22 and 23.

Representatives from the Sonora governor’s office attended the event in Hermosillo, including Natalia Rivera Grijalva, chief of staff for Governor Claudia Artemiza Pavlovich Arellano, and Secretary Ricardo Martínez Terrazas for the Department of Infrastructure and Urban Development of Sonora. The event was covered by local newspapers, television and radio.

The program teaches commercial vehicle drivers what to expect during safety inspections when they enter Arizona through ports at San Luis, Nogales and Douglas. Including sessions in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, and Douglas, 89 drivers have completed training and testing in the program’s first six weeks.

Commercial vehicle drivers who pass examinations at the end of the program are able to communicate with ADOT safety inspectors using WhatsApp, a popular smartphone messaging app. Qualified drivers can send photos of potential safety issues to inspectors, who tell them whether the photos show violations and, if so, how to correct them. Commercial vehicle drivers who have participated in IBIQ training can use WhatsApp at the border ports of entry in Nogales, San Luis and Douglas.

The International Border Inspection Qualification program is part of ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit launched last fall to train commercial vehicle drivers and mechanics on safety inspections at the border. The goal is for trucking companies to make any needed repairs before they approach the border, saving the companies time and money and allowing ADOT inspectors to focus on trucks that are more likely to have safety concerns.

The program is working: ADOT inspectors have conducted fewer border inspections over the past year but have found more violations, increasing safety on Arizona roads. Those improvements have led to more trucks crossing in Arizona instead of elsewhere, boosting the state’s economy.

The International Border Inspection Qualification program stems from ADOT’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey. This approach to continuous improvement empowers employees at state agencies to come up with innovative ways to better serve customers.

The program initially scheduled four training sessions this fall but has added four more at the request of Mexican trucking officials, including one held last week in Douglas, Arizona. The remaining schedule:

• Sept. 19-20 in Nogales, Sonora
• Oct. 3-4 in Douglas, Arizona (to be conducted in English)
• Oct. 11-12 in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora
• Oct. 24-25 in Culiacán, Sinaloa
• A yet-to-be-determined November date in Hermosillo, Sonora