Logistics News: Mexican trucks could be heading this way soon, DOT's LaHood says
John D. Schulz, Contributing Editor -- Logistics Management, 6/1/2009
Washington —
Washington—Mexican drivers, currently banned from operating on U.S. highways outside a 25-mile zone near the southern border, might be making a U-turn and heading back north.
That's the word from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The former Illinois congressman says he's been actively lobbying up to 30 former colleagues in the House of Representatives to craft a program that satisfies this country's commitment to the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) as well as highway safety.
"I hope we can have a Mexican program reinstated," LaHood told a gathering at the National Press Club on May 21. "This is part of NAFTA; this is part of something we need to do. We've put together a very good proposal, and it's being vetted by Congress."
Under NAFTA that was passed in 1993, the U.S. is required to open its border to both Canadian and Mexican carriers who meet this country's trucking standards. The Canadian border is open; the Mexican border is not.
Yielding to pressure from the Teamsters union (who fear loss of jobs) and safety advocates (who fear unsafe Mexican trucks), a small pilot program allowing Mexican-domiciled trucks to deliver freight in this country was yanked last year in an overwhelming vote by the House who gave a resounding "no" to Mexican trucks.
Mexico reacted to what it viewed as discrimination by enacting stiff tariffs on as many as 90 products from the U.S., including some agricultural products. Farm interests complained to the Obama administration, which has since been working with Congress to craft a proposal that satisfies the Mexican government as well as U.S. labor and safety interests. LaHood says he's optimistic that the House could agree to a modified Mexican truck proposal by summer.
The trucking industry is taking a wait-and-see approach. "The secretary is saying he will make the new cross-border trucking plan public soon, and that Congress will approve it relatively quickly," said ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce. "It remains to be seen how he will reverse the opposition of Congress to cross-border trucking, but he hinted that the Mexican government's punitive tariffs on U.S. agriculture are doing the job."
If there is one thing the lone Republican in the Obama administration seems good at it's lobbying his former House colleagues. The folksy Republican from Peoria, Ill. is the first to admit he doesn't know much about the nuts-and-bolts of transportation. During his Press Club speech, he openly admitted he had no idea that YRC Worldwide, the nation's largest trucking company, was in deep financial difficulty. Except for the Mexican truck issue, LaHood also steered away from commenting on anything vaguely controversial.
But if you want an old Washington hand to steer a testy issue (like Mexican trucks) through Congress, LaHood is very much the man to see. He's a blend of another former Chicago pol, Samuel K. Skinner (the first Bush DOT secretary) and Casey Stengel, the legendary late baseball manager and master of doublespeak.
And to top it off, LaHood is pals with Rahm Emmanuel, another former Illinois House member who graduated to President Barack Obama's chief of staff. So besides overseeing the auto industry bailout, investigating plane crashes, increasing the mileage standards of cars and working on reauthorization bills covering highways and aviation, this transportation secretary also is the man with deep pockets.
View All On-Demand Webcasts
