Court Rulings Back U.S.-Mexico Cross-Border Trucking Program
A federal appeals court ruled that the government’s cross-border trucking pilot program that allows some Mexican trucking companies to operate in the United States can go forward, rejecting both an appeal of a previous decision and a separate challenge.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters union had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in June to reconsider its April decision in their lawsuits against the program overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, saying the decision conflicted with the law and previous court rulings. The court’s opinion, issued Friday, did not provide a detailed reasoning.
The court also rejected OOIDA’s argument that in allowing the Mexican truck program, FMCSA improperly exempts Mexican drivers from medical requirements.
Starting next year, all U.S. drivers will have to get their biennial physicals performed by medical professionals who are on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, but Mexican and Canadian drivers will not have to.
The court disagreed with OOIDA, saying drivers in both countries must have biennial physicals that meet similar requirements to those in the United States.
The case revolved around international agreements in which the federal government agreed to exempt Canadian and Mexican drivers from the medical certificate requirements and a law stating that all commercial drivers must have the certificates.
“The question we must answer is whether a facially unambiguous statute of general application is enough to abrogate an existing international agreement without some further indication Congress intended such repudiation,” Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote for a majority of the three-judge panel. “We conclude it is not.”
Judge David Sentelle disagreed with the opinion, saying it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution and rulings of the Supreme Court.
