FMCSA Says it Intends to Proceed with One Year U.S.-Mexico Cross Border Trucking Pilot
The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a notice announcing its intent to proceed with a pilot program1 to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the U.S. beyond the commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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(The pilot program is part of FMCSA's implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) cross-border trucking provisions. The pilot will allow up to 100 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the U.S. for one year. Up to 100 U.S.-domiciled motor carriers will be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period.
Participating Mexican carriers and drivers will be required to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, including those concerned with motor carrier safety, customs, immigration, vehicle registration and taxation, and fuel taxation. The safety of the participating carriers will be tracked closely by FMCSA and its State partners, a joint U.S.-Mexico monitoring group, and an evaluation panel independent of the DOT.
The pilot program is slated to terminate and all provisional operating authority certificates to expire one year from the date FMCSA grants the first provisional certificate.)
Program Will Proceed When DOT Inspector General Completes Report, Etc.
FMCSA states that it has reviewed, assessed and evaluated the required safety measures for the pilot program, and considered the more than 2,300 comments received in response to its May 1 and June 8, 2007 requests for comments.
Once the Department of Transportation's Inspector General completes his report to Congress, and FMCSA completes any follow-up actions needed to address any issues that may be raised in the report, FMCSA states it will proceed with the pilot program.
1FMCSA also refers to this pilot program as a demonstration project.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/07/07 news and 07/05/07 news, 07050710 and 07070510, for BP summary of the FMCSA's announcement and request for comments on the initiation of this program (including a list of the requirements for participation in the program) and FMCSA's extension of the comment period, respectively.
See ITT's Online Archives or 06/13/07 news, 07061325, for BP summary of the FMCSA's notice providing additional details on the program, including certain data collected from pre-authorization safety audits (PASAs).
See ITT's Online Archives or 04/20/07 and 04/27/07 news, 07042099 1 and 07042799 1, for BP summaries of opposition to this pilot program.)
FMCSA contact - Milt Schmidt (202) 366-4049
FMCSA notice (D/N FMCSA-2007-28055, FR Pub 08/17/07) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-16207.pdf
BP Note
According to American Shipper, the House-passed version of the 2008 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill would deny funding to the pilot program.
Specifically, the bill states "none of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish or implement a cross-border motor carrier demonstration or pilot project or program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border."
The Senate version of this bill has been earmarked for debate before the current fiscal year ends on September 30, 2007. (The bill must face debate and vote in the Senate, be reconciled with the House version, and be signed by the President in order to be enacted into law.) (American Shipper, dated 08/20/07, www.americanshipper.com)