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Arizona Department of Tranportation expands its truck safety training

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The Arizona Department of Transportation’s international truck safety training program is expanding its program to the commercial truckers from the maquiladora industry.

ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit offered its first International Border Inspection Qualification training session for the maquiladora industry in Hermosillo, capital of the Mexican state of Sonora, following a request from operators of border-area plants in Mexico making goods for export.

“Expanding to maquiladoras demonstrates that our partners in Mexico see as much value in this safety training as we do,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said in a press release. “Interest from the maquiladora industry also means the safety and economic benefits we have seen in this program’s first year will multiply.”

The International Border Inspection Qualification program was created to help make Arizona roads safer and to support international trade by training Mexican truck drivers and mechanics about the safety regulations they must follow to drive on U.S. roads.

Since the training program began in 2017, there was only 12 significant safety violations that required trucks to be stopped for repairs. More than 469 drivers completed the training and have crossed the border nearly 5,500 times. 

The program also has expanded beyond locations near the Arizona border and Hermosillo, with training offered in Mexicali and Ensenada in Baja California and in Caborca, Sonora, at the request of trucking companies in those areas.