OOIDA Seeks Suspension of Mexican-Truck Plan
A group representing owner-operator truck drivers said Friday it has written to President Obama to ask that he suspend any immediate plans to re-establish the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking program.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which said it represents 160,000 small business truckers, sent a letter contending that the Mexican government should raise its regulatory standards to equal that of the United States and Canada before its motor carriers are allowed full access to U.S. highways.
OOIDA President Jim Johnston, referred to the North American Free Trade Agreement to point out that it does not require the United States to make exemptions for safety and security.
The program was required under the NAFTA — signed by the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 1993 — but was implemented as a test program by the Bush administration as a pilot project after the Clinton administration scuttled it early in its administration.
“Mexico-domiciled trucking companies and drivers simply do not contend with a similar regulatory regime in their home country nor must they contend with the corresponding regulatory compliance costs that encumber their U.S. counterparts,” Johnston wrote.
