Today the U.S. Department of Transportation released the details of a proposed, phased-in long-haul, cross-border trucking program between the United States and Mexico. It builds upon the progress announced by Presidents Obama and Calderon in early March, according to the announcement.

After the previous program was terminated in March 2009, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other administration officials met with lawmakers, safety advocates, industry representatives and other stakeholders to address a broad range of concerns. DOT said it has continued that dialogue and has taken concerns raised into account as it has worked with Mexico to develop a new program.

This pilot program would allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the United States for up to three years. U.S.-domiciled motor carriers would be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period.

Participating Mexican carriers and drivers would 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 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers that participate in this pilot program would proceed through a series of stages prior to issuance of a permanent operating authority.

The safety of the participating carriers would be tracked closely by FMCSA with input from a Federal Advisory Committee, including through GPS and/or electronic log systems supplied by the agency.

A driver may not participate in this pilot program unless the driver can read and speak the English language sufficiently to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records required by FMCSA.

The American Trucking Associations said it "welcomes the progress that the United States and Mexico are making to resolve their ongoing dispute." ATA expressed concerns to DOT about the U.S. government's earlier proposal to pay for and provide electronic onboard recorders to Mexican trucks participating in a proposed pilot program. DOT has changed this specific requirement to allow for GPS systems to also be used for tracking purposes to ensure compliance with U.S. cabotage and hours of service regulations, ATA said. "We believe this is a sound change by the administration."

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association issued a statement calling the proposal "irresponsible and reckless."

The proposed program is described in a Federal Register notice, and the public is encouraged to comment. Once the notice is published in the Federal Register, the public will have 30 days to submit comments. After the close of the comment period, DOT will formally respond to comments and take those comments into account as it develops and implements a final program.

The Federal Register notice is available at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/proposed-Mexican-cross-border-trucking-program.

Washington Editor Oliver Patton will have more details on the proposal and reaction to it on Truckinginfo.com next week.

This story was updated 5:45 EDT 4/8/11 to include the ATA's reaction to the proposal.