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WASHINGTON — Mexican trucks could begin rolling down U.S. highways within the next two months, under a one-year pilot program announced by government leaders Friday.Ending a quarter-century moratorium that has barred Mexican trucks from making deliveries in the United States beyond a 25-mile commercial zone along the border, the agreement represents the Bush administration's latest effort to achieve the kind of cross-border trucking envisioned under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"The time has come for us to move forward on a long-standing promise with Mexico by taking the trucking provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement off hold," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday in El Paso.
Under the plan announced at the Bridge of the Americas connecting El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 100 Mexican trucking firms will be certified to make U.S. deliveries. At the same time, 100 U.S. firms will be able to operate in Mexico.
U.S. inspectors already are in Monterrey to begin inspecting Mexican trucking firms. Transportation Department officials hope to certify the first Mexican trucking firm within 60 days.
To qualify, Mexican truck drivers will have to hold commercial driver's licenses, comply with U.S. hours-of-service rules and be able to understand questions in English.
"As we move forward with this test program, let me assure you, safety will be the top priority," Peters said.
Mexican trucks will have to be insured by U.S.-licensed firms. The Mexican companies will be permitted to make international deliveries. They will not be allowed to transport goods from one U.S. city to another, carry passengers or haul hazardous materials.
The Teamsters union, which has long opposed the idea of Mexican trucking firms returning to U.S. roadways, assailed the agreement Friday.
The administration is "willing to risk our national security by giving unfettered access to America's transportation infrastructure to foreign companies and their government sponsors," Teamsters General President James Hoffa said.
"They are playing the game of Russian Roulette on America's highways. It is the American driving public who will pay the consequences."
National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman questioned how the U.S. could spare sending inspectors to Mexico when only a tiny percentage of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. truck companies are inspected every year.
"They lack the inspectors to conduct safety reviews of at-risk domestic carriers," Hersman said, according to the Associated Press. "That situation only gets worse if resources are diverted to the border."
A fourth of U.S. trucks are taken off the road after random inspections because they're unsafe, she said. An even higher percentage of Mexican trucks are taken off the road at Texas border crossings, she said.
Proponents hope the effort will encourage the already burgeoning trade between the United States and Mexico.
"The cross-border trucking pilot program will encourage expansion of an already robust trading relationship with Mexico," said Mary Irace, the National Foreign Trade Council's vice president to trade and export finance.
Guy Erb, director of consulting firm LECG, said Friday's announcement was a positive sign.
"It sounds like they are going about it in the right way," said Erb, one of several government and business leaders who attended a two-day conference on NAFTA at the University of Texas at Austin
"The time has come for us to move forward on a long-standing promise with Mexico by taking the trucking provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement off hold," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday in El Paso.
Under the plan announced at the Bridge of the Americas connecting El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 100 Mexican trucking firms will be certified to make U.S. deliveries. At the same time, 100 U.S. firms will be able to operate in Mexico.
U.S. inspectors already are in Monterrey to begin inspecting Mexican trucking firms. Transportation Department officials hope to certify the first Mexican trucking firm within 60 days.
To qualify, Mexican truck drivers will have to hold commercial driver's licenses, comply with U.S. hours-of-service rules and be able to understand questions in English.
"As we move forward with this test program, let me assure you, safety will be the top priority," Peters said.
Mexican trucks will have to be insured by U.S.-licensed firms. The Mexican companies will be permitted to make international deliveries. They will not be allowed to transport goods from one U.S. city to another, carry passengers or haul hazardous materials.
The Teamsters union, which has long opposed the idea of Mexican trucking firms returning to U.S. roadways, assailed the agreement Friday.
The administration is "willing to risk our national security by giving unfettered access to America's transportation infrastructure to foreign companies and their government sponsors," Teamsters General President James Hoffa said.
"They are playing the game of Russian Roulette on America's highways. It is the American driving public who will pay the consequences."
National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman questioned how the U.S. could spare sending inspectors to Mexico when only a tiny percentage of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. truck companies are inspected every year.
"They lack the inspectors to conduct safety reviews of at-risk domestic carriers," Hersman said, according to the Associated Press. "That situation only gets worse if resources are diverted to the border."
A fourth of U.S. trucks are taken off the road after random inspections because they're unsafe, she said. An even higher percentage of Mexican trucks are taken off the road at Texas border crossings, she said.
Proponents hope the effort will encourage the already burgeoning trade between the United States and Mexico.
"The cross-border trucking pilot program will encourage expansion of an already robust trading relationship with Mexico," said Mary Irace, the National Foreign Trade Council's vice president to trade and export finance.
Guy Erb, director of consulting firm LECG, said Friday's announcement was a positive sign.
"It sounds like they are going about it in the right way," said Erb, one of several government and business leaders who attended a two-day conference on NAFTA at the University of Texas at Austin
