Qualcomm System to Monitor Trucks
Thursday September 27, 4:18 pm ET
By Dan Caterinicchia, AP Business Writer
Government Selects Qualcomm for Satellite Monitoring of U.S., Mexican Trucks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. will provide a satellite-based tracking system for all trucks participating in a U.S.-Mexico pilot project that for the first time allows the vehicles unlimited access to the other nation's roads.
But critics of the trade agreement on Thursday questioned how the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will pay for the technology since both houses of Congress separately voted to cut off funding for it.
FMCSA said the tracking plan is being developed in conjunction with Mexican officials after both countries agreed to explore satellite technology as an enforcement tool.
The systems will be installed at no cost to the trucking companies and will be used to enforce safety requirements, including hours of service and direct shipping standards, said FMCSA Administrator John Hill.
After determining Qualcomm was the only company that could meet its requirements, the agency on Wednesday said it intends to award the San Diego-based company a one-year contract to provide satellite terminals that will relay the location, speed, trip details, mileage and other data of the vehicles back to an operations center. The trucks will be tracked by vehicle number and company, and no driver information will be collected.
Other companies that believe they can meet the government's requirements have until Oct. 12 to contact the agency. Negotiations with Qualcomm continue and no pricing information was available, said FMCSA spokeswoman Melissa DeLaney.
Representatives of Qualcomm did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday afternoon. But a spokeswoman for the Teamsters Union, which sued unsuccessfully to stop the border program, said FMCSA "is whistling in the dark."
"Where, exactly, does FMCSA expect to get the money for this project?" wondered Teamsters spokeswoman Leslie Miller.
The House voted in July to block funding and the Senate followed suit earlier this month, but the transportation spending bills still must be reconciled. If the program's funding is cut off after the satellite-tracking contract is awarded, the deal is structured so FMCSA can simply stop making purchases and end it, DeLaney said.
The first trucks from both countries began traveling across the border earlier this month. There are currently 12 domestic trucks in Mexico, and seven Mexican trucks in the U.S., DeLaney said.
Trucks from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. were given access to roadways in all three countries under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, but opposition from organized labor and safety groups delayed Mexican trucks unlimited access into the U.S.
Shares of Qualcomm, which on Tuesday raised its fourth-quarter profit guidance on higher-than-expected shipments of its chip sets for more advanced cellular phones, added 12 cents to $42.36 in afternoon trading. |
