The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is allowing 13 Mexico-based trucking companies that were part of the agency’s cross-border pilot program to maintain U.S. operating authority.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Trucking regulations for this nation, while in a state of tremendous flux, set the backdrop at the Expotransporte truck show here Nov. 13-15.

The Federal Motor Carrier Administration is considering certification of the 15th carrier under the cross-border pilot program that allows Mexican trucking companies to run longhaul trips in the United States.

Motor carriers received a stark reminder earlier this month that cross-border trucking presents special challenges when U.S. prosecutors announced the arrest of 19 members of Mexican drug organizations who allegedly transported drugs in PVC pipes concealed inside tractor-trailer axles.

A Southern California-based federal drug task force rounded up more than 57 members of three alleged Mexican drug organizations accused of smuggling cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the U.S. by hiding the drugs in PVC pipes concealed in tractor-trailer axles, according to federal prosecutors.

Trade experts assessing a federal appeals court’s recent affirmation of the United States’ cross-border trucking pilot program with Mexico could not agree whether it paved the way for a rush of new Mexican carriers.

In 2012, the Obama administration’s Mexican cross-border three-year pilot project got into full swing, but a federal court challenge and a lack of widespread interest among Mexican motor carriers continued to threaten the program’s success.

Customs officials from the United States and Mexico said they will soon open a facility in Tijuana, Mexico, that will expand inspection capabilities for trucks entering the United States and combine export and import operations.