OMAHA, Neb. — A number of Mexican train crews who had just hauled trains over the border to American rail yards in Texas had trouble understanding important safety information in English during recent focused inspections the Trump administration ordered.<\/p>\n
Railroads Union Pacific and CPKC routinely rely on foreign crews at times to bring trains over the border to their rail yards in the U.S. before switching to American engineers and conductors. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union said handoffs used to happen right at the border. The engineers union has been worried about using foreign crews for some time because of safety, security and job concerns.<\/p>\n
The Federal Railroad Administration sent letters to both railroads urging them to reexamine their practices and make sure that Mexican crews can speak English and don’t operate a train more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) inside America.<\/p>\n
Union Pacific and CPKC said the railroads are committed to ensuring safety and security and will work to ensure they are complying with the rules.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has also been cracking down<\/a> on truck drivers<\/a> who don’t speak English to make sure crews can communicate in an emergency and understand crucial instructions.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you\u2019re operating an 80-ton big rig or a massive freight train, you need to be proficient in our national language \u2014 English,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. \u201cIf you aren\u2019t, you create an unacceptable safety risk.\u201d <\/p>\n The Transportation Department has already withheld $40 million from California for not enforcing the English proficiency requirement, and Duffy has threatened to sanction several other states<\/a> for incorrectly giving immigrants who are in the country illegally commercial driver\u2019s licenses<\/a>. That became a key concern after several deadly crashes<\/a> occurred involving semitrucks driven by immigrants who shouldn\u2019t have had licenses.<\/p>\n FRA Administrator David Fink told both railroads they could face enforcement action if inspectors find additional occurrences of train crews operating in the U.S. without being proficient in English. <\/p>\n Inspectors found problems in Union Pacific\u2019s Eagle Pass rail yard and CPKC\u2019s facility in Laredo. <\/p>\n Union Pacific had a translator on hand to help its Mexican crews, but Fink said the railroad might try to remove that in the future, and inspectors worried about how well the crews understood operating rules and required brake tests. <\/p>\n At CPKC\u2019s rail yard, Fink said inspectors found numerous instances of train crews having a hard time understanding operating bulletins and U.S. regulations that require information about hazardous materials and emergency responses to be maintained in English.<\/p>\n The engineers union and the SMART-TD union that represents conductors praised the Trump administration’s move because they say Mexican crews aren’t as well-trained and need to understand crucial safety information. <\/p>\n