On hold – Mexican Trucks will have to wait longer to enter the US
The pilot project that was to let Mexican trucks haul freight into the US has been stalled since the Senate panel voted for a delay.
The earlier decision was to allow hundred Mexican trucking companies to come beyond the present twenty-mile limit for a period of one year initially, provided they complied with on-site Department of Transportation audits and prescreening of Mexican drivers, along with drug tests and insurance checks. Similar to Canadian carriers, the Mexicans are not allowed to haul point to point within the US. At the present time Mexicans are allowed to travel twenty miles into the commercial zone, north of the US-Mexico border. But the Senate panel wants to delay the plan – and wants details of this pilot program published. They feel the public should have enough time to express its opinion before the program is executed. It is felt that the move to open the US border to Mexican trucks is compromising safety. In the meantime, the Transportation Department expressed its commitment to going ahead with the program, taking care of law enforcement concerns on the way. The Department feels that allowing the Mexican trucks into the US will benefit the US economically as well as maintain safety standards.
The Senate’s concern is that the US has opened the border to the Mexicans before Mexico opened the border to US trucks. The International Brotherhood Of Teamsters is happy with the delay. Though access to US highways to Mexico was to materialize in 2003, it was stalled due to disagreements between the US and Mexico.