ATA Asks Feds Not to Require Driver Passports at Borders

merican Trucking Associations and other industry groups have asked that when the federal government implements new border security regulations, it will accept forms of identification other than passports for commercial truck traffic traveling between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Trucking executives said a proposal that would require commercial truck drivers and other travelers to carry passports to enter the United States from Canada or Mexico would make international business more expensive for carriers and could dissuade U.S. truck drivers from transporting freight into those countries.

“Trucking companies believe that a number of requirements already in effect for their drivers are compliant with Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act requirements in lieu of a passport,” said Kenneth Staub Jr., vice president of flatbed carrier Riverside Service Corp. in Buffalo, N.Y.