U.S. groups uniting to oppose border crossing by Mexican truckers

Jan. 1, 2020
There’s a rumble going on over the prospect of allowing Mexico’s big rig truckers unfettered access to America’s interior highways and byways.

There’s a rumble going on over the prospect of allowing Mexico’s big rig truckers unfettered access to America’s interior highways and byways. Several organizations in the U.S. are vigorously contesting a pilot program being conducted by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that lets in a limited amount of selected South-of-the-border-based fleets on an experimental basis.

Like this article? Sign up to receive our news blasts here.


“This is the nose under the tent – we’re concerned that eventually they’ll open the door to all Mexican truck drivers,” says Henry Jasny, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a consumer group that questions Mexico’s ability to adequately ensure that these types of vehicles are truly roadworthy.

“You’re taking carriers that operate in a Mexican regulatory environment that’s very different from our regulatory environment, and that’s a very hit-or-miss proposition,” he says.

“We want to make sure safety is the top priority,” Jasny tells Aftermarket Business World, questioning whether the FMCSA will have suitable safeguards in place should the pilot program expand into widespread practice.

“They won’t be able to do enough inspections to regulate them all. Right now they’re using only the highly motivated companies and the best drivers and the best trucks,” he notes. “They’ve stepped up the technology to watch the vehicles in the U.S., but with a pilot program, you want a window into what’s going to happen in the future, and you’re not getting a real-world result.”

Under current law, a Mexican-based truck entering the U.S. must remain within a 20- to 30-mile border zone; a further run inland requires that the cargo be offloaded onto an American-based hauler.

“A Mexican carrier can now travel to Maine if they’re in the pilot program,” says Jasny. “We still have concerns over running an experiment on our highways.” He expresses additional fears that the ultimate outcome of the FMCSA test will result in “watered down” safety standards being applied to the Mexican rigs.

FMCSA officials are just as vociferous in defending the pilot program’s purpose and methodology, and the project is a priority for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “By opening the door to long-haul trucking between the United States and Mexico, America’s third-largest trading partner, we will create jobs and opportunity for our people and support economic development in both nations,” said LaHood last year in Mexico City, as he hailed an agreement reached with Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes Dionisio Arturo Pèrez-Jàcome Friscione.

Not a new issue, the dispute dates back to 1993 when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted. The measure calls for equal border access, which certainly has not yet happened, according to CANACAR, which stands for Cámara Nacional del Autotransporte de Carga, a Mexican trucking trade association that has an official arbitration filing pending against the U.S. State Department.

CANACAR charges that the border restrictions amount to a series of NAFTA treaty violations, including offenses against a previously agreed-upon “most-favored nation treatment” and “minimum standard of treatment under international law.” An arbitration panel remains under deliberation. “The United States intends to defend this claim vigorously,” says a State Department spokesman.

FMCSA also is fending off legal action in the form of a Federal Court lawsuit brought against its pilot program by the Teamsters union, Public Citizen, the Sierra Club and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). Reams of briefs have been filed, and the case is likely to chug along for quite some time.

OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer is calling on Congress to put the brakes on the “irresponsible and reckless” pilot program’s entire concept.

“Lawmakers and truckers both know this the wrong plan at the wrong time,” says Spencer. “U.S. taxpayers have already seen too much of their money wasted as our government has attempted to accommodate trucking companies from Mexico. Yet Mexico has done nothing to raise their trucking industry’s standards or address safety and security issues associated with their trucks crossing into the United States,” he contends.

“Opening the border to Mexico will jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of thousands of U.S. truckers and will undermine the standard of living for the rest of the driver community. Every year, U.S. truckers are burdened with new safety, security and environmental regulations. Those regulations come with considerable compliance costs. Mexico-domiciled trucking companies do not contend with a similar regulatory regime, nor with the corresponding compliance costs,” Spencer asserts.

“The onus is on Mexico to raise the safety, security and environmental standards for their trucking industry,” he adds. “We should not allow ourselves to be harassed or blackmailed into lowering ours.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa is especially outspoken on the issue, alleging that Mexico does not “provide simultaneous and comparable access to U.S. trucks” in yet another NAFTA violation because of Mexico’s limited availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.

“The FMCSA makes the bizarre argument that our members aren’t harmed by a program that opens the border to low-paid truck drivers and dangerous, dirty trucks,” Hoffa says.

“The last time we checked, three drivers and two trucks made nine trips beyond the border zone in six months. That sure isn’t a representative sample. We predicted at the beginning that this program would be a dismal failure, and it looks like we were right. FMCSA should just pull the plug on this program and save the taxpayers some money,” he adds.

“Mexico can’t guarantee the safety of U.S. truckers because it can’t control the drug cartels that killed 12,000 people last year,” says Hoffa. “U.S. drivers are scared to death to drive down there. How is this a reciprocal trade deal?”

Sponsored Recommendations

ZEUS+: The Cutting-Edge Diagnostic Solution for Smart, Fast, and Efficient Auto Repairs

The new ZEUS+ simplifies your diagnostic process and guides you through the right repair, avoiding unnecessary steps along the way. It gives you the software coverage, processing...

Diagnostic Pre- and Post-scan Reports are Solid Gold for Profitability

The following article highlights the significance of pre-scans and post-scans, particularly with Snap-on scan tools, showcasing their efficiency in diagnosing issues and preventing...

Unlock Precision and Certainty: TRITON-D10 Webinar Training for Advanced Vehicle Diagnostics

The TRITON-D10 lets you dig deep into the systems of a vehicle and evaluate performance with comparative data, systematically eliminating the unnecessary to provide you with only...

APOLLO-D9: Trustworthy Diagnostics for Precision Repairs

The APOLLO-D9 provides the diagnostic information and resources you need to get the job done. No more hunting through forums or endlessly searching to find the right answers. ...

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Vehicle Service Pros, create an account today!