Mexican trucking firms may now be legally permitted to operate in the U.S., according to Mexico’s Communications and Transport Ministry.
Mexican truckers have been trying to negotiate unlimited access to drive in our country. However, currently, the U.S. restricts the Mexican transportation industry. In a way though, it’s unfair considering that American drivers have access to their country since 2007. Their Mexican counterparts have curbs where they can only drop off their cargo in border regions and not throughout.
In 1994, an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico called the North American Free Trade Agreement was created which would have allowed Mexican long-haul drivers to enter the U.S. and drive in it freely (at least in theory, it would have.) Regardless, Mexican drivers still cannot have the ability to travel throughout our country. In 2011 finally, a pilot program was set in motion to phase out the current curbs. There’s already been a pilot program that will begin to see how allowing Mexico to deliver goods to the U.S. would pan out.
According to a press release from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, allowing Mexicans access to our roads for delivering goods would “strengthen” a relationship with our country’s third-largest trading partner.
“Opening the door to a safe cross-border trucking system with Mexico is a major step forward in strengthening our relationship with the nation’s third largest trading partner, and in meeting our obligations under NAFTA,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Data from the three-year pilot program, and additional analysis on almost 1,000 other Mexican long-haul trucking companies that transport goods into the United States, proved that Mexican carriers demonstrate a level of safety at least as high as their American and Canadian counterparts.” – See more at: http://www.noodls.com/view/AE7A5A8F5E9F1CDB8A9C20A9659804298AF13581?1300xxx1420958373#sthash.0mVmWuXW.dpuf
“Opening the door to a safe cross-border trucking system with Mexico is a major step forward in strengthening our relationship with the nation’s third largest trading partner, and in meeting our obligations under NAFTA,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Data from the three-year pilot program, and additional analysis on almost 1,000 other Mexican long-haul trucking companies that transport goods into the United States, proved that Mexican carriers demonstrate a level of safety at least as high as their American and Canadian counterparts.” – See more at: http://www.noodls.com/view/AE7A5A8F5E9F1CDB8A9C20A9659804298AF13581?1300xxx1420958373#sthash.0mVmWuXW.dpuf
Even though allowing below-the-boarder trucks to transport in the U.S. could save a lot of time and money economically for the big business companies, it does worry some folks. A lot of people are against allowing Mexican drivers to deliver in our country. Some feel that it can’t work because Mexican trucks don’t always have the safety standards of ones in our country. Do all their big rigs have seat-belts, mufflers or recent and valid emissions check? Additionally, some Americans worry that illegal immigrants or drugs could possibly get smuggled in.
And, it brings up another concern. If Mexican drivers start being allowed to have unlimited access to our roads, then what happens to the jobs for the Americans that once had the duty of taking the goods all around the states? Does that American just lose their job? And additionally, it strikes up a concern about how this could affect the fair wages for our truckers. Would Mexican drivers agree to do the same jobs for cheaper and cost hardworking citizens to be out of a job?
Environmental repercussions are another reason many people wish to keep the curbs in place. If older, unregulated vehicles came into the country, how much pollution would be added to our country’s air? Would risks of asthma and cancer escalate as a result? In 2002, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Environmental Law Foundation opposed the allowance of Mexican trucks for transport to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Apparently, the issue is nothing new.
Allowing Mexican drivers free reigns to deliver goods across the country could possibly lead to increased traffic and pollution, unregulated and dangerous vehicles on our roads, loss of American trucking jobs, and possibly, illegal activity. What do you think about it?
February 16, 2015
Good info but much of it erroneous. First, Mexican trucks, those used long haul in Mexico and now the United States, are practically identical to ours. They should be, they are built on the same assembly lines. Economic damage? Not likely as in addition to being burdened with compliance costs in Mexico, they have additional expense of compliance in the US. Drivers wages have nothing to do with the equation as the drivers are employed by the Mexican carrier. We all know what it costs to operate a big rig, therefore it is unreasonable to assume the Mexicans can operate at less cost than we can. With a supposed shortage of 20,000 truckers in the US, and a shortage of half that number in Mexico, and NAFTA freight across the southern border increasing at roughly 4% per year, there is more than enough to go around…. We also forget the 975 Mexican carriers who have enjoyed unrestricted authority in the US for more than 50 years. These are the Certificate carriers. And the Mexican cannot haul freight point to point in the US as some would have you believe