Trump tightens rules for Mexican train crews in the U.S.: English proficiency and new controls to be required

The Trump administration wants to ensure that Mexican train crews transporting cargo across the border can understand safety information in English and that the common practice of using foreign crews does not threaten jobs in the United States.

Two major rail unions praised the proposed rule announced on Friday, which would also strengthen standards for certifying that crews can operate a train safely.

The two railroad companies that would be directly affected by the restrictions on Mexican crews—Union Pacific and CPKC—have not responded, and the trade group Association of American Railroads declined to comment while it reviews the rule.

The Federal Railroad Administration sent letters to CPKC and UP in December after inspections determined that crews often had difficulty understanding English during specific inspections. The government urged those companies to reexamine their practices and ensure that crews can speak English and do not operate a train more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) into the United States.

Federal inspectors found numerous problems last fall at Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass rail yard and at the CPKC facility in Laredo, where train crews had difficulty understanding operating bulletins and regulations requiring that information on hazardous materials and emergency responses be kept in English.

At the time, both UP and CPKC committed to ensuring they were complying with existing rules, but now the federal government wants to strengthen them “because rail crews must be able to communicate fully and correctly when crossing into the United States, particularly with dispatchers and emergency responders during a crisis, as a critical safety function.”

This rail safety effort aligns closely with Department of Transportation initiatives to ensure that truck drivers can understand English so they can read road signs and warnings and communicate with emergency responders after an accident or during an inspection. The government has attempted to withhold millions of dollars in highway funding from New York and California because it is not satisfied with the measures those states have taken to ensure that the commercial driver’s licenses they issue are valid.

Mark Wallace, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, has been expressing concerns about the practice of using Mexican train crews for several years due to safety, security, and employment reasons.

The union has pointed out that crew changes used to occur right at the border, but now Union Pacific and CPKC routinely ask Mexican crews to take trains several miles past the border to one of their rail yards, where crew changes can be made more safely. But the strict 10-mile (16-kilometer) restriction included in this rule will prevent rail companies from expanding this practice to rail yards further inside the United States, as the union said UP was considering in New Mexico.

Wallace stated that the language barrier would pose a danger in the event of issues such as a derailment.

The SMART-TD union, which represents conductors and other rail workers, also indicated that provisions in the rule that will prohibit crews from using a system similar to cruise control for freight trains when they take their certification exams will help ensure that they can operate a train safely.

“Rail certifications must represent a proven ability, not simply the possession of a certificate,” said Jared Cassity, chief safety officer for SMART-TD. “When lives are on the line, the (government agency) must know that an engineer can operate a train safely, not just supervise a computer doing it.”