May 3, 2007, 12:35AM
Timeline slows for Mexican trucks in U.S.
Request made to delay pilot program for transit from spring until this July


By MEENA THIRUVENGADAM and SEAN MATTSON
San Antonio Express-News

Nearly 30 Mexican trucking companies have passed safety inspections that would allow them to make deliveries to the U.S. heartland, but it still will take months before the first trial of cross-border trucking can begin.

"What we're waiting for now is for the Mexican government to review the applications they have for U.S. companies," said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

But those reviews won't allow the Transportation Department to stick with the timeline it had initially proposed to implement a provision in the decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement. When it announced the cross-border trucking pilot in February, the department suggested that Mexican trucks could begin crossing into the United States as early as April.

But the Mexican government this week said it wants the pilot to begin July 15 and full implementation of NAFTA's cross-border trucking provisions within one year.

Mexican trucks haven't been allowed to operate in this country since 1982 when U.S. motor carriers lost access to roads south of the border. Under NAFTA, the United States, Mexico and Canada were to be open to truckers from all three countries by 2000. Years of legal and political battles have prevented that from happening.

Initially, U.S. trucks were to gain access to Mexico six months after Mexican carriers were granted operating authority in the U.S., said John Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. On Monday, the Department of Transportation issued a statement saying Mexican and U.S. trucks would gain access to one another's countries simultaneously.

While more than 800 Mexican carriers have applied for permission to operate in the U.S., only 16 American companies have requested similar access in Mexico.

And on Wednesday, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved a bill that if approved would allow a maximum of 1,000 Mexican trucks and passenger buses to have access to U.S. roads for up to three years.

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