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FMCSA 05-07
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Contact: Melissa Mazzella DeLaney
Tel.: (202) 366-2309
U.S. & Mexican Trucking Companies Cleared to Operate Beyond the Border DOT
provides details on steps taken to ensure safety of year-long Demonstration
Project in response to latest Inspector General report
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution from El Paso, Texas, was
today given approval to operate in Mexico, and Transportes Olympic of Nuevo
Leon, was cleared to operate in the U.S., marking the start of a year-long cross
border demonstration project that will allow U.S. trucking companies to operate
in Mexico for the first time, and change the way a select group of Mexican
trucking companies operate in the United States.
The cross border trucking demonstration project was cleared to begin today with
the release of the U.S. DOT Inspector General’s (IG) official report – mandated
by Congress – on the safety of the program and the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s response to this report, which also was submitted to Congress
earlier today. The report confirmed FMCSA has taken the necessary steps to
ensure the safe implementation of the demonstration project.
“This long-awaited project will protect public safety on American highways as we
work to both save consumers money and help our economy,” said John H. Hill,
Administrator of DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA),
which will oversee the trucking demonstration project.
Specifically, the IG affirmed FMCSA’s plans to go beyond statutory requirements
and check every truck that crosses the border as part of the demonstration. The
response identified how federal truck inspectors are coordinating with state and
Customs and Border Protection personnel to conduct the checks. The response also
detailed how it is working with the International Association of Chiefs of
Police, the National Sheriff’s Association and the Commercial Vehicle Safety
Alliance to ensure its state partners have the necessary information to oversee
safety.
Under the demonstration project, a small number of Mexican trucking companies,
many of which already operate daily in major U.S. cities like El Paso and San
Diego, will be able to travel beyond the approximately 25 mile commercial zone
that runs along the U.S. border. Participating U.S. and Mexican trucking
companies can begin their new operations immediately once they have been granted
operating authority by U.S. DOT and have secured cargo to haul.
In the first 30 days of the program, 17 trucking companies from Mexico will be
given operating authority. Each subsequent month until December, additional
companies will be added if they pass FMCSA’s rigorous inspection process and
after a public comment opportunity. No more than 100 Mexican companies will be
permitted in the project. Every company, vehicle and driver is subject to a
significant and rigorous safety inspection prior to being admitted to the
demonstration project.
U.S. DOT’s response to the IG’s report can be found at
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2007/090707.pdf