While their government has been demanding that Mexican truckers have full access to the United States under the long-delayed terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, many Mexican trucking companies have no interest in applying for U.S. operating authority.
According to the Houston Chronicle, even after the border opens sometime in 2002, companies like TUM don't plan to send a single truck north.
"There is no intention whatsoever of an organized Mexican company going into the United States," Rafael Tawil, director of Transportation Unidos Mexicanos, told the paper.
In fact, Tawil says, the new regulations will just mean more headaches for the truck traffic that currently just crisscrosses back and forth across the border inside the narrow commercial zone. Even trucks with no intention of heading deep into the U.S. will face tougher inspections.
Manuel Gomez, president of the Mexican trucking association CANACAR, told the paper that while a few companies have shown interest in offering international service, most of the 8,000 trucking companies in his country do not want to travel in the United States. "It's not economically feasible for a truck to make an international trip," he said.
Issues such as the extra insurance required, as well as culture shock for Mexican drivers, may hold Mexican trucking companies back from operating in the U.S., Gomez told the Chronicle. And because Mexican trucks average 16 years of age, compared to 5 in the U.S., it will be some years before the country's fleet is upgraded enough to where the equipment could survive a trek all the way from Mexico to Canada.
Meanwhile, Mexican truckers laugh at the thought of U.S. drivers negotiating Mexico's potholed roads, signs that often point in the wrong direction, no rest areas or McDonald's, and highway ambushes.
According to the Houston Chronicle, even after the border opens sometime in 2002, companies like TUM don't plan to send a single truck north.
"There is no intention whatsoever of an organized Mexican company going into the United States," Rafael Tawil, director of Transportation Unidos Mexicanos, told the paper.
In fact, Tawil says, the new regulations will just mean more headaches for the truck traffic that currently just crisscrosses back and forth across the border inside the narrow commercial zone. Even trucks with no intention of heading deep into the U.S. will face tougher inspections.
Manuel Gomez, president of the Mexican trucking association CANACAR, told the paper that while a few companies have shown interest in offering international service, most of the 8,000 trucking companies in his country do not want to travel in the United States. "It's not economically feasible for a truck to make an international trip," he said.
Issues such as the extra insurance required, as well as culture shock for Mexican drivers, may hold Mexican trucking companies back from operating in the U.S., Gomez told the Chronicle. And because Mexican trucks average 16 years of age, compared to 5 in the U.S., it will be some years before the country's fleet is upgraded enough to where the equipment could survive a trek all the way from Mexico to Canada.
Meanwhile, Mexican truckers laugh at the thought of U.S. drivers negotiating Mexico's potholed roads, signs that often point in the wrong direction, no rest areas or McDonald's, and highway ambushes.
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