General Information - Communicating with Mexico (DQ/DR, KQ/KR & RQ/RR)

Communicating with Mexico (DQ/DR, KQ/KR & RQ/RR)

This section describes Nlets user access to Mexican Commercial Driver License (DQ/DR), Driver History (KQ/KR) and Commercial License Plate records (RQ/RR).

Overview

Effective November 21, 1991 the United States recognized the commercial driver license issued by the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), the Licencia Federal de Conductor, as being comparable to a U.S. issued commercial driver license (CDL).

U.S. enforcement officers can encounter Mexican drivers with a licencia federal legally operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in the U.S., as Mexican for-hire carriers can legally operate from Mexico through the U.S. to a destination in Canada.

Though rare, such movements are legal because the carrier is not engaged in commerce in the U.S., and thus does not need U.S. operating authority issued by the U.S.DOT, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Such operations DO need to comply with all safety and other requirements, e.g., driver licensing, fuel taxes, registration taxes, vehicle safety.

In addition, Mexican based (domiciled) private carriers, principally owned by a U.S. investor, may obtain operating authority from the FMCSA to operate anywhere in the United States.

There are a number of companies which claim this is their ownership status and have obtained this type of operating authority. Although they may legally operate anywhere in the U.S., these carriers are restricted to hauling private carriage (their own products). It is also possible for a Mexican domiciled company to get similar authority for hauling exempt commodities (basically agricultural.) All such Mexican companies can use Mexican drivers with a licencia federal issued by the SCT to operate their commercial vehicles in the U.S.

Mexican Commercial Driver License

The eLicencia system responds to Nlets user driver license queries (DQ & KQ), regardless of the type of ORI assigned to them, e.g. FBI or Nlets.

Users can inquire to the eLicencia to obtain license and status information about federally issued Mexican commercial driver licenses, just as such driver license queries (DQ & KQ) can be made to U.S. state driver license files for any U.S. issued license.

A license status inquiry to the eLicencia is made by addressing a driver license query (DQ or KQ) message to the destination address of "MX".
All inquiries and responses are in a fixed format.
At this time, the eLicencia application only supports requests using the operator license number (OLN).
Name and date of birth inquiries are not currently supported, but are anticipated in the future.
Mexico will not return images on either a DQ or KQ.

Help Files

On-line HELP Files

Users may access the standard help file Nlets has always supported for providing explanatory or supplementary information provided by the application. For the eLicencia application it covers highlights of Mexican federal commercial driver licenses, and the eLicencia.

The HELP file is accessed by sending an Administrative Message (AM) to: MXOLNHELP

Driver's License Query Requirements

To send a Driver License Query (DQ) or Driver History Query (KQ) to the Mexican eLicencia application the following entries are required:

Standard Nlets header, message type, sending ORI
Destination code MX
License number from the license document (must always include the alphabetic characters which are the beginning of the license number)
Category(s).

No spaces or non-alphanumeric characters are allowed.

The control field and control characters are optional.

The Driver's License Query (DQ) requirements for a Mexican licencia federal inquiry are similar to a Driver's License Query (DQ) or Driver's History Query (KQ) inquiry for a U.S. state issued driver license.

The table below provides a description of the Mexican driver's license number field requirement.

XML Tag: Legacy Prefix: Field Size: Data Requirements: Translation:

<j:PersonDriverLicenseID>

Mexican OLN/ plus up to 4 category(s) 8-15 plus 4 i.e., 8-19 Alphanumeric Combination of DL# and "CATEGORY" of Mexican driver license in DL#/CAT order. DL# must begin with alpha letters shown as beginning of number on the document. If more than one "category" shown on license, they may all be included in OLN field after the DL#. This combination currently is the required equivalent of U.S. OLN for Mexican LIFIS.

Free form fields such as "RSTR/", "STATUS/", "OLT/", etc., are used to provide information on any restrictions, status of the license, the U.S. equivalent CDL class and explanations regarding verifications in process.

All information will be provided in English.

If there are any questions on this or any other parts of the response, consult the Nlets HELP file by sending an Administrative Message (AM) to MXOLNHELP.

In the near future there are plans to begin supporting a KQ (driver history) capability. Initially this will be for convictions that result from citations issued by U.S. enforcement while the driver was operating in the U.S. This capability to respond to a KQ inquiry was expected to begin initial operations sometime in 2000.

Test Driver's License Number (OLN) and Category Values

WARNING: These test OLN values must be entered EXACTLY, or an error message likely will be received in response, instead of the expected illustrative results.

Test Driver's License Number Responses

The responses to these test Driver's License Numbers (OLNs) demonstrate what the user will receive in response to an inquiry about a license number that conforms to all the rules.

Response Code: Explanation:

FIRST123456C

The response, msg # 1, is for a driver who is not yet in the database, and this is the first inquiry ever received for that driver.

SUBSE123456C

The response, msg # 2, is for a subsequent inquiry on a driver who was previously inquired about, but has not yet been verified by Mexico, and is within the currently allowed 15 day grace period.

GOOD123456AC

The response, msg # 3, is for a driver who is in the database, has a valid license, and no restrictions.

RSEYE123456E

The response, msg # 4, is for a driver who is in the database, has a valid license, a restriction for wearing eye glasses, and the equivalent of an endorsement for carrying hazardous materials.

RSMEX123456B

The response, msg # 5, is for a driver who is in the database, has a valid license, but is restricted to operating a CMV only in Mexico, i.e. is NOT valid to operate a CMV in the U.S.

DISQU123456A

The response, msg # 6, is for a driver who is in the database as having previously had a valid license, but has subsequently been disqualified from operating a CMV in the U.S.

BAD123456B

The response, msg # 7, is for a driver license number that was not issued.

EXPIR123456C

The response, msg # 8, is for a driver license number that was confirmed by Mexico at some point in the past, but has more recently been confirmed with Mexico to be expired.

RENEW123456B

The response, msg # 9, is for a driver license number that was confirmed by Mexico at some point in the past, but now needs to be reconfirmed to verify if the driver has obtained the required two year re-validation.

MULTI123456ADE

The response, msg # 10, is for a driver who has a combination of categories. This example shows that category was not issued, and that categories A and D were issued, but on different dates.

ZCHIH2000201234C

The response, msg # 11, is for the special case of a license number with more that six (6) digits issued by the State of Chihuahua, and with a non-alphanumeric dash (-) shown on the license document, but omitted from the inquiry. Note. There is a corresponding error message shown below for this special case where the user included the non-alphanumeric character (dash), and therefore will receive an error message, provided the user's system will allow sending a non-alphanumeric character in an OLN.

NORSP123456C

The response, msg # 12, is for records where the driver has been encountered in the U.S., an inquiry made on the status of the driver, and the record was either not in the database, or needed to be updated, e.g. to verify whether the driver obtained the necessary two-year re-validation, and Mexico City headquarters failed to respond within the interim 15 days allowed.

Error Messages - Driver's License Number/Category Construction

Version 2.2 of LIFIS has seven possible error details explaining specific problems that could occur with the Driver's License Number (OLN) that was entered. The appropriate explanatory detail would be received in the section of the error message labeled as Error Details.

The error response messages are numbered consecutively, 21 through 27 as follows.

Error #: Error Message: 21 YOU DID NOT INCLUDE THE LETTERS WHICH ARE THE BEGINNING OF THE LICENSE NUMBER.
NOTE: IF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT SAYS IT IS A LICENCIA FEDERAL, AND DOES NOT HAVE LETTERS AS THE BEGINNING OF THE LICENSE NUMBER, THEN THE DOCUMENT PROBABLY IS FRAUDULENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. 22 THE LETTERS YOU INCLUDED AS THE BEGINNING OF THE LIC. No. ARE NOT FOR A VALID MEXICAN FEDERAL OFFICE THAT ISSUES LICENCIAS FEDERALES.
NOTE: IF THE DOCUMENT SAYS IT IS A LICENCIA FEDERAL, AND THESE ARE THE LETTERS THAT ARE THE BEGINNING OF THE LICENSE NUMBER, THEN THE DOCUMENT PROBABLY IS FRAUDULENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. 23 YOU DID NOT INCLUDE A VALUE AT THE END OF THE OLN FOR A CLASS (CATEGORY) YOU WANT TO VERIFY. THE CATEGORY(S) YOU SHOULD INCLUDE AT THE END OF THE OLN ARE SHOWN ON THE UPPER, RIGHT FRONT OF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT OVER THE PHOTO.
NOTE: IF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT SAYS IT IS A LICENCIA FEDERAL, AND THERE IS NO CATEGORY OVER THE PHOTO ON THE DOCUMENT, THEN THE DOCUMENT PROBABLY IS FRAUDULENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION 24 THERE ARE TOO MANY NUMERIC DIGITS IN THE NUMBER ENTERED.
NOTE: IF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT SAYS IT IS A LICENCIA FEDERAL, AND THERE ARE THIS MANY NUMERIC DIGITS IN THE LICENSE NUMBER, THEN THE DOCUMENT PROBABLY IS FRAUDULENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. 25 A LICENCIA FEDERAL LICENSE NUMBER DOES NOT HAVE MORE THAN FIVE LETTERS AS THE BEGINNING OF THE OPERATOR LICENSE NUMBER. THIS ENTRY HAS TOO MANY LETTERS.
NOTE: IF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT HAS THIS MANY LETTERS AS THE BEGINNING OF THE LICENSE NUMBER, THEN THE DOCUMENT IS PROBABLY FRAUDLENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. 26 ONLY LETTERS AND NUMBERS MAY BE ENTERED. IF THE LICENSE NUMBER ON THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS A NON-ALPHANUMERIC CHARACTER, RESUBMIT THE INQUIRY WITHOUT THE NON-ALPHANUMERIC CHARACTER. 27 YOU ENTERED A LETTER IN ONE OF THE SIX NUMERIC POSITIONS WHICH MUST CONTAIN ONLY NUMERIC DIGITS.
NOTE: IF THE LICENSE DOCUMENT SAYS IT IS A LICENCIA FEDERAL, AND THERE IS A LETTER IN THE NUMERIC PORTION OF THE LICENSE NUMBER, THEN THE DOCUMENT PROBABLY IS FRAUDULENT. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.

The responses to these test records demonstrate the analysis information the user will receive in response to a license number (OLN) that does NOT conform to all the rules for the interim LIFIS.

Response Code: Explanation:

123456A

The response, msg # 21, is for a license number that does not contain the required beginning letters from the license document.

WLOCA123456B

The response, msg # 22, is for a license number that begins with letters that are not a valid combination for an existing Mexican SCT office.

MISSC123456

The response, msg # 23, is for a license number which does not provide at least one category at the end of the license number.

TOOMN12345678901E

The response, msg # 24, is for a license number that includes too many digits in the number for all locations.

TOOMLETTERS12A

The response, msg # 25, is for a license number that includes too many letters at the beginning of the license number. Currently they generally do not exceed 5.

ZCHIH2-000223456C

The response, msg # 26, is for a license number that contains a non-alphanumeric character. The user is advised to omit the non-alphanumeric character and resubmit the inquiry. Some systems contain internal edits and will not allow sending this as a value for a license number (OLN).

LTR1234E6A

The response, msg # 27, is for a license number with a letter in one of the 6 digit positions normally following the introductory letters, but before the final category.

INCORR123456D

The response, msg # 30, is for what the user may receive if a test ONL value is incorrectly entered. More likely, the user will get a normal analysis error message.

Mexico Commercial License Plate File

The Mexico Commercial License Plate File is housed in Mexico City and is provided to Nlets through the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration's connection in New York. All commercial vehicles in Mexico that cross Mexican state boundaries and into the United States are required to be federally registered and included in this file. If the vehicle is commercial and you receive a "not on file", it is not registered and is in violation of US-DOT operating authority. Queries can be run by license plate only.

More information may be obtained by emailing FMCSASupport@TechAnax.com. This file has been available for many years so it is very possible that your message switch may already be prepared to send RQs to destination MX.

Graphic showing how Nlets transforms data from Registration Query (RQ) to Registration Response (RR)

The following records can be used for testing:

LIC/533HY7.LIY/2015.LIT/PC
LIC/455ER3.LIY/2015.LIT/PC

General notes:

MX responds to an RQ only on Federal License Plate Registration (Interstate CMV). Mexican State issued license plates are not in the database, thus, any query to a Mexican State Credential will result in a negative response.
If a MX RQ results in a "NOT ON FILE", the vehicle is not registered in Mexico and is in violation of US-DOT Operating Authority.

Possible license plate status codes:

ASSIGNED (ONLY POSITIVE STATUS)
AVAILABLE
CANCELLED
STOLEN OR LOST
WITHDRAWAL PER RULE
DAMAGED
WITHDRAWAL NOTICE
WITHDRAWAL IMPOUNDED
NOT RECEIVED
WITHDRAWAL EXCHANGED
WITHOUT DECAL
INCOMPLETE DATA ENTR
PREVENTIVE SEIZURE
MISSING
WITHDRAWAL NEW NAME
UNDER INSPECTION

Possible registrant status codes:

REGISTERED
WITHDRAWN
SUSPENDED
BANKRUPT
WITHDRAWN/MERGER
UNDER INVESTIGATION