Cross-border program would open up trucking
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 10/20/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT


A federal cross-border truck inspection program would allow about 100 U.S. companies to operate in Mexico for the first time and about 100 Mexican companies to operate in the United States beyond the commercial zone, which is about 25 miles from the border.
Friday, members of a group led by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters visited a commercial vehicle-inspection station in El Paso to observe safety inspections required of all Mexican trucks entering the United States under the program, said Brian Turmail, a Transportation Department spokes man.

Peters has said the inspection program will ensure Mexican trucks meet the same safety requirements that U.S. trucking businesses must meet.

Opponents of the cross-border inspection program have said Mexican trucks will cause safety and pollution problems and economically undercut U.S. trucking companies.

Peters and other supporters say the program will allow U.S. truckers to compete in Mexico.

"The point of the trip was to educate two key members of Congress about the strict safety standards we've put in place for this project and demonstrate how it benefits U.S. truck drivers and lowers costs for U.S. consumers," Turmail said.

U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., accompanied Peters.

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