The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week proposed its plan for a three-year pilot program in which Mexican and U.S. carriers could offer long-distance service into each country.
The program is the result of an agreement between President Obama and President Calderon of Mexico to resolve the long-standing dispute over cross-border trucking.


FMCSA will publish the details of the program in the Federal Register, probably this week, and will take comments for 30 days.

Once the program is in place, Mexico will start to suspend the tariffs it levied when the Congress killed an earlier version of the pilot.

In general, the program will set up a three-stage process for Mexican carriers that wish to operate in the use, starting with pre-operations vetting and then followed by monitoring of operations and communications to the public and Congress.

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.

The American Trucking Associations said it "welcomes the progress that the United States and Mexico are making to resolve their ongoing dispute."

ATA had 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. The association says 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. "We believe this is a sound change by the administration," ATA said in a statement.

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

Look for more details later this week.

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