Mexican trucks seeking US access face obstacles | US News | Idaho Statesman
McALLEN, Texas — It will be at least two months before any Mexican truckers pass safety, English and national security checks and win approval to cruise middle America's highways under a long-awaited cross-border trucking agreement between the two countries, U.S. Department of Transportation officials said Thursday.
And even then it remains to be seen how many Mexican trucking companies will actually join the three-year pilot program that balances national security concerns and free-flowing commerce at the border. A Mexican trucking association suggested it would not be many because the temporary nature of the program would not make the investment worthwhile.
Mexican truck drivers in the program will face more scrutiny than thousands of trucks that cross the border daily because they will now be allowed to leave the narrow border trade zones and head for destinations deeper inside the U.S. But criminal activity has been a problem for years even within the U.S. government's strictest trusted carrier programs. Drug trafficking organizations have smuggled tons of drugs inside trucks driven by approved truckers coming from inspected and certified facilities inside Mexico.
Some members of Congress have decried the program's economic and security risks and introduced legislation to limit it. [...]
"The U.S. government will pay for and install electronic monitoring devices in all Mexican trucks used in the program."
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