Mexican trucks could be allowed greater access to U.S. by the end of the year

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 24) — The United States and Mexico are in the late stages of negotiations to relax cross-border truck movements between the two countries within the year, a U.S. Dept. of Transportation official said yesterday.

Charles Hunnicutt, the assistant secretary of transportation for international affairs, told the House transportation appropriations subcommittee that “if our work proceeds as we anticipate, I am confident that we might be able to move toward processing new applications for operating authority from Mexican carriers…by the end of this year.”

Currently, Mexican truckers can operate in designated commercial zones no farther than 20 miles from U.S. border cities. The same restriction applies to foreign carriers, including Canadians, on the Mexican side of the boundary.

Trucking provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement would have allowed greater access starting in December 1995, but the U.S. government suspended processing Mexican applications for operating authority amid concerns that Mexican trucks don’t meet U.S. safety standards.