Roadblocks on the Border

The latest plan to let Mexican trucks cross the border to deliver goods to the U.S. heartland is facing the same kind of roadblocks that stalled earlier efforts.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced Feb. 23 a one-year pilot program to allow about 1,000 trucks from 100 Mexican companies to start hauling freight into the United States as soon as the end of April. A coalition of opponents -- unionized truck drivers, safety groups and some members of Congress -- has been erecting barriers since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994, and promises to continue.

The American people "will pay the price" for "an incompetent agency, serious safety deficits with Mexican trucks at the border, and the use of a pilot program," said Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a public-interest group in Washington.

The renewal of the dispute reflects how difficult it can be for governments to meet international obligations, even those contained in a treaty, in the face of opposition from determined interest groups.

The stakes are high: U.S. trade with Mexico via surface transportation, most of it by truck, was worth $272 billion in 2006, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Transportation Department. Because of previous restrictions, Mexican trucks have been able to operate only within a 20-mile "commercial zone" across the border, where goods are offloaded and picked up by U.S. carriers.

Full cross-border trade was supposed to open by 1995 under a provision of NAFTA. President Bill Clinton first blocked access because of safety concerns. President Bush's administration tried to open access in 2001, only to see Congress add 22 safety requirements.

This year's shift in control of Congress to the Democrats means the pilot program faces even stiffer opposition. House and Senate committees already have held oversight hearings. One senator accused Peters of withholding information about the program.

Peters assured the committees that the government now has the proper standards in place to allow Mexican big rigs to carry goods safely into the country. U.S. carriers are scheduled to receive equal privileges in Mexico in about six months.

The department said it plans to audit every Mexican carrier and inspect the trucks that will be accepted into the pilot program. Trucks carrying hazardous materials are not part of the program, nor are buses. And Mexican carriers aren't allowed to make deliveries between American cities.

In announcing the pilot program, the department sidestepped its usual rulemaking procedure, so the new program wouldn't have to undergo the typical time-consuming comment period.

A key issue remains whether administration officials already have decided that a full opening of the border is safe.

John Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is implementing the program, said, "There is no plan at this point."