Debate continues over the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement, especially as it concerns Mexico and trucking. In recent months, many questions have been raised about the condition of Mexican trucks and the level of training received by Mexican drivers. Unfortunately, what should be an economic and political debate often descends into cultural and even racial stereotypes. The facts are quite different.

San Antonio, Texas, is not only a crossroads for east-west U.S. traffic, but it is also a major gateway to Mexico. Almost everyone doing business with Mexico uses the facilities of San Antonio for one business purpose or another.

This is especially true of the American-owned manufacturing plants that account for almost 50% of Mexico's industrial capacity and are located mostly below the Texas border. For this reason, San Antonio is a good place to measure the pulse of this growing trade zone and to find people who are benefiting economically from the current boom.

Eusebio Ayala is an owner/operator based out of Monterrey, Mexico. He once lived in San Antonio and still visits occasionally on business. For over a quarter-century, Ayala has worked at every level of the Mexican trucking industry, from operations manager to small fleet owner to single owner/operator.

"Trucking is in my blood," Ayala says. "Yes, the job is hard here in Mexico, the equipment not as nice as in the United States, the roads are terrible in some places. But who can worry about all those things when you are blessed with seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets far from the cities and have the thrill of making your own way in life, not depending on others so much for a living. I admit it. I am hooked on trucking."

Ayala has trucked across the border many times to pick up loads in South Texas for return trips to Mexico and notes, "The important things about trucking here in Mexico and over there in the United States are the same. The freedom and the opportunity for self-accomplishment."

Gilberto Arizpe of Monterrey, Mexico, is a spokesman for Monterrey-based Express Anahuac S.A., C.V. He foresees a future where rules will level the playing field for everybody.

Express Anahuac dates back to 1948 and has over 200 late-model tractors in its fleet. Anahuac has obtained a DOT certificate and CVSA qualification to operate on U.S. roads, mostly to facilitate the delivery of loaded trailers to truck or custom yards in the U.S.

Anahuac will soon receive the coveted - and difficult to obtain - ISO 9002 total quality certification. This achievement will give Mexican carriers the credibility to cross the border with the assurance that their service quality, drivers, insurance coverage and trucks meet established international guidelines. And recent government legislation mandates that all Mexican truck drivers must have formal training to receive a CDL.

The comments of Ayala and Arizpe sound like those of American truckers in every way. Their problems are similar, their goals the same, and their understanding that there is no free lunch in this business is common to us all.

On the South Texas side of the border, truckers of Hispanic origin have been part of the landscape for over half a century. Today small fleets with names like De La Cerda Transportation, Martinez Trucking and Montalvo Trucking are rising stars, as they build fleets to compete for the lucrative cross-border commerce.

Adolph Patterson, of the Floresville, Texas, community just south of San Antonio, has been behind the wheel of a truck since he was 13 years old. "I started out hauling cattle in 1957. Believe it or not, I used to drive all the way to California, buy my permits and fuel and never got stopped," Patterson says. "It was a different world for truckers back then. But there was some prejudice against Mexicans, not here in Texas but up in the upper Midwest. I remember being told I couldn't eat at some cafes and truckstops in places like North Dakota and Minnesota.

Martinez Trucking is one of a number of Hispanic-owned fleets prospering on cross-border trade. Employers with Spanish-speaking employees can now get a Spanish version of Bumper to Bumper: The Complete Guide to Tractor-Trailer Operations, by Mike Byrnes & Associates. This guide addresses the subject of large vehicle operation in detail, and includes information on engines, drivetrains and rear ends. It also includes more information about loading, logs, waybills and day-to-day operation of the vehicle including preventative maintenance. The perfect use for this book would be as a tool for driver trainers. Letting the student review specific sections while in training would offer plenty of good question-and-answer sessions while rolling down the highway. Bumper to Bumper (in English or Spanish) is available from Mike Byrnes & Associates at (361) 980-8337 or may be purchased on the Internet from mbapub@aol.com.

"All that's changed now anyway," Patterson says. "Today, you don't even hear stories like that. I know of a lot of Hispanic drivers who have started their own fleets in South Texas. The problems they have are the same that all small fleets have. It's hard to hire a driver, pay for fuel and the truck, and make a profit for anybody.

"Most of the guys now that are doing good have just one truck and drive it themselves," Patterson adds. "I know that a lot of companies in South Texas simply wouldn't have made it at all if it weren't for the Hispanic drivers on the payroll. The relationship has been good for everybody. Now if you have paid your bills and done your job, it's easy to buy all the trucks you want."

Rodney Garza, who lives in San Antonio, is a driver for one of the fastest growing South Texas trucking companies, De La Cerda Transportation Inc. He says that he still sees some prejudice against Mexican drivers when making deliveries up north, but it's not like it used to be. "In this business now you can be anything you want to be, if you do your job well."

The new breed of driver is typified in men like Rudy Mendez, another San Antonio resident. Mendez has been in the trucking business for 13 years as both a small fleet owner and single owner/operator. After giving both approaches to the industry a fair trial, Mendez recently sold his rigs and settled on a single new 2000 Mack Vision.

"I tried the small fleet idea. Getting the trucks is the easy part. Getting drivers is the hard part," Mendez says. "After giving the whole matter a lot of thought, I decided that having one good rig and driving it myself was the way to go.

"This is a good time to be in this business in South Texas. The freight is there, and if you work hard, you can make good money taking advantage of the growing trade with Mexico."

Mendez notes that he has experienced racial prejudice in the form of slurs and comments like, "Go back to where you came from." As he was born and raised in Texas, and his first language was English, he says he is not sure what they want him to do exactly. He writes those comments off to ignorance on the part of people who seem to have forgotten that their ancestors came from another land originally.

The importance of the Spanish-speaking communities both above and below the Rio Grande is highlighted by the efforts of companies like Freightliner Corp. At last year's Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., Jose Vieira-Lima, President of Mercedes Mexico, was on hand to talk with the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking visitors to the show, as well as with the growing Mexican press presence.

The used-truck manager of one of the largest new-and-used truck retailers in the Southwest reported in the course of research for this article that fully 60% of his customers are Hispanic. He also noted that some fleets bearing Hispanic names have upward of 200 trucks, making them major players in the Texas business community.

Laredo, Texas, now boasts major truck dealerships for every brand of truck; almost all of their growth has been due to purchases of equipment and parts by Mexican-American buyers on the U.S. side of .the river. Laredo is another gateway to Mexico, with more than 4,000 trucks a day crossing the border. CFI long ago reached a milestone when it delivered its millionth load to Mexico. The growing economic partnership between Mexico and the U.S. creates a billion-dollar market to be served by the trucking industry. Attempts to portray Mexican truckers as operators of inferior equipment and unwanted intruders do a disservice to many people whose goals, working conditions and equipment are in every way on par with the best companies in the U.S. side of the industry.