FMCSA Says Mexican Truck Program Meets Legal Guidelines

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken careful steps to ensure its cross-border program allowing Mexican trucks complies with federal law and that the trucks and drivers in the program are safe, the agency said in court filings last week.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Teamsters union and Public Citizen do not have standing in their challenges to the program, as none of their members are regulated by it or eligible to participate in it, FMCSA argued in court filings responding to two lawsuits, one by OOIDA and one filed jointly by the Teamsters and Public Citizen over the Mexican trucks program.

“Congress has enacted multiple statutes containing preconditions for any test of opening the border to long-haul operations by Mexico-domiciled trucks,” the agency wrote. “In extensive Federal Register notices, FMCSA has explained how the pilot program meets each of those preconditions.”

The groups contend that the pilot program, which began in October when FMCSA granted U.S. operating authority to a Mexican carrier, violates various laws, including ones Congress has enacted to regulate the program.

FMCSA rejected a claim it violated the law by allowing drivers with Mexican commercial licenses to drive without American CDLs, saying that Mexican CDLs have previously been determined to be equivalent to American ones.

The lawsuit argued that the agency should have conducted a full study to determine environmental effects of the program. FMCSA responded that it has discretion to decide not to do one, and a previous court case said it didn’t have to.

Arguments have not been scheduled for either case, which are in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.