Mexican trucks get U.S. visa

Try as it might to block Mexican trucks from operating in the United States, the Teamsters Union doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Earlier this week the Teamsters Union announced its intention to ask a federal appeals court to block the Bush administration’s plan to enact a measure of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement regarding cross-border trucking.

It would give a limited number of pre-approved Mexican trucking lines access to deliver cargo anywhere of the United States, instead of the 25-mile restriction that kept Mexican trucks inside a border trade zone since 1995.

The plan would also give American trucking lines access to Mexico.

Canadian trucks already have unrestricted access to U.S. highways.

A Saturday deadline to allow Mexican trucks to travel the U.S. interior was delayed. The earliest the program would begin is Thursday, according to FMCSA spokeswoman Melissa Mazzella DeLaney.

Some Rio Grande Valley truckers, like David Brown, sympathize with the Teamsters and believes the plan is simply a bad idea, especially for the Valley.

“When you take away all the costs American companies incur with American employees (Mexican companies) will be able to cut the freight rates and monopolize the industry,” Brown said.

Distribution centers, which serve as drop-off and pick-up points for trucks on both sides of the border, could suffer too if trucks no longer have to stop.

U.S. companies aren’t likely to risk sending expensive merchandise and trucks into the Mexican interior, Brown said. Many Mexican trucking companies have also expressed concern that U.S. companies could flood their market.

Beyond market worries, there are also growing complaints that drivers on U.S. roadways are being ticketed if they can’t speak English when quizzed by state troopers.

A federal law requiring sufficient English language skills for foreign truckers navigating America’s highways has been in place since 1971. Stricter enforcement is expected leading up to Thursday’s rule change.

“We have found people in violation of this for a number of years and we’re working feverishly to correct it,” John Hill, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, told the Associated Press Friday.

The FMCSA is more focused on truck safety laws than language proficiency, according to DeLaney.

The administration notes in its motion against the Teamsters lawsuit that Mexican trucks make 4.5 million trips across the border every year and have a safety record that meets or exceeds the safety record of U.S. trucks.

“The Mexican trucks have to meet the exact same safety standards as U.S. trucks,” DeLaney said. “If anything, the bar is higher because they will have had to prove a lot more on the front end than any U.S. trucking company.”

Forty-four trucks from Mexico are expected to participate in the program in the first 30 days.

Additionally, the Department of Transportation’s inspector general must submit a congressionally-mandated assessment of the program. The department must respond to the assessment and U.S. companies must begin receiving clearance to operate in Mexico.

“We are hopeful these three things will fall into place by Thursday,” she said.

Despite the Teamsters’ fears, at least one Mexican trucking company shrugged off the opportunity to take a piece of the U.S. market.

“We’re not interested in trucking to the United States,” said Gonzalo Garcia, of Transportes General Lauro Villar, a Matamoros trucking company.

“I think it’s preferable to work with what you know. That way you keeps things running smoothly.”

Requirements for commercial drivers

Truck drivers must meet the general entry requirements as a visitor for business (B-1 classification) set forth in section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) and the Department of State regulations. To qualify as a bona fide visitor for business, the driver must:

-- Have a residence in a foreign country which he or she has no intention of abandoning

-- Intend to depart the United States at the end of the authorized period of temporary admission

-- Have adequate financial means to carry out the purpose of the visit to and departure from the United States

-- Establish that he or she is not inadmissible to the United States under the provisions of section 212(a) of the INA, which includes such grounds of inadmissibility as health related, criminal, subversive, public charge, improper manner of arrival or improper documents, other immigration violations and several other categories of ineligibility.

For more information:

www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/carriers/land/how.xml

SOURCE: U.S. Customs and Border Protection