The trucking industry today has changed over the recent years with the inception of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and for the better. Industry and government have come together to forge a new alliance for the public benefit. This is viewed by most as advantageous in the promotion of safety through compliance of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. There are many winners in this endeavor; safer public highways, fewer commercial vehicle accidents, and a true understanding by the motoring public of the professional truck driver. The interaction of the public and the commercial truck driver is of prime importance to the carrier as this has huge benefits and some very serious liabilities. The interaction of the commercial truck driver and the government enforcement agency, is also a major consideration on both sides the fence. The CB air waves are flooded with the "News on The Road" as what "DOT" is doing here or there. The safety regulations are the backbone for safety compliance and the results are what the public observes on the highways. (Not to mention what the insurance company has to say about the carrier itself.) All these components working have a few "glitches" and that is what CVSA is all about.

Now let’s take this huge industry and introduce North American free trade. What about a French Canadian driver delivering product in Mexico? A Mexican driver traveling in the United States? Wait a minute! DO WE ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE? How many times does a state trooper stop a non-English speaking driver from Mexico or Canada? When this occurs how does it impact the respective parties involved. I will bet it’s a mess. How Do I Know? I am a Spanish speaking Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Safety Specialist. Frequently, I am called to translate for inspectors who become involved in the inspection process of trying to complete a timely vehicle inspection with a non-English speaker, usually a Spanish speaker.

The driver according to the Oregon Law must read, and be able to speak English sufficiently to understand road signs and carry on a basic conversation to get him through the enforcement scenario. Sometimes this is the case, but more than not the Spanish speaking driver is unable to meet the requirements of bilingual communication. The situation too often becomes a tedious, embarrassing, confusing encounter. The inspector; state trooper; weighmaster; sheriff has a job to do with no tools for communicating. The driver has a job to do with no tools to communicate either, and if you have seen one of these events unfold before your eyes you have really missed something! NAFTA is here and the southwestern states have dealt with the bilingual issue for decades. Growing up in southern California where the population soared in non English speaking communities caused me to depend upon my ability to speak Spanish. After 20 years in law enforcement in the Los Angles and Orange County area it was invaluable. Now, here I am in Oregon and I am watching the same population increase in Spanish speaking people as I saw 35 years ago in California.

The same migration of the Spanish speaking persons now is affecting every state in the union. Law enforcement is trying to deal with the education of street enforcement officers to learn Spanish and the same problem is on the "DOT door step". The ability for personnel, nationwide, to be able to conduct a vehicle inspection with a Spanish speaking driver is quickly becoming a necessity in today’s trucking industry interaction with government ( PUC, DOT, DMV, etc.)

To ignore the problem is tantamount to the ostrich approach. Hiding from the fact that there are Spanish speaking drivers, with little or no English speaking ability, who are operating on the US highways is a fact. The industry needs to deal with it: government needs to deal with it. Law enforcement agencies are scurrying to train their personnel in language training for pure survival.

The trucking industry should embrace the proactive efforts of CVSA in emphasizing language training for inspectors in the field. CVSA is taking the leadership position in addressing this ever increasing communication problem facing the industry.

Recently, I reviewed an excellent Spanish field manual written by Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Robert Dent, titled "The Complete Spanish Field Reference Manual for Public Safety Professionals" (6th Edition, with two audio learning CDs. Available from The Constable Group, Inc., PO Box 6415, Bend, OR 97708, (800-776-1950), or on the Internet at: http://www.survival-spanish.com ).

I have reviewed several publications for Spanish language training and found Dent’s manual and CDs to be the most useful tools for non-Spanish speaking employees. The compact manual contains a wealth of information including a detailed section devoted exclusively to truck inspections (I.E., General inspections terms; common questions; MTA violations; equipment lists, hours of service, log books, etc.). In my opinion there is no other publication on the market that compares with it.

Brian Gerold

(Mr. Gerold is a former O.D.O.T. Specialist and a certified Spanish language instructor.)