Border Lines

A roundup of North American news:

A report last month in The News, Mexico City's English-language newspaper, noted that Mexican owner-operators were up in arms over a decree banning trucks manufactured prior to 1985 from the country's roads. The rule, which was issued by the Secretariat of Transportation and Communications (SCT), would take those trucks off the road in April; eventually all trucks more than five years old would be phased out under the plan. Hundreds of owner-operators, most of whom rely on second-hand vehicles and cannot afford to buy new trucks, reportedly have sought injunctions against SCT in a bid to stop the decree from going forward. An SCT representative told The News that the move was intended to reduce pollution and make Mexican motor carriers more competitive with those in the United States and Canada. Ricardo Martinez, president of the group Owner Transporters United for Mexico (Protumex), accused SCT of being in league with truck manufacturers to boost new vehicle sales in Mexico.

The 2002 edition of the Mexican Motor Carrier Directory, published by Transportation Technical Services, is now available in print or on CD-ROM. The directory, which provides information on 575 Mexican trucking companies, includes the following for each carrier: number and type of trucks, tractors and trailers; primary services and commodities hauled; and contact information, including e-mail and Web sites when available. The publication, which offers both Spanish and English text in the same edition, is available in print for US$145 or on CD-ROM for $195, plus $9 shipping and handling. For more information, call (888) 665-9887 or go to www.ttstrucks.com.

U.S. and Canadian customs personnel will soon be inspecting containers in each other's countries. In recent speeches to industry organizations, U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner has said that he expects inspections designed to pre-clear low-risk shipments that are in transit from Canada to the United States and vice versa to begin by the end of this month. U.S. Customs inspectors will be stationed at Halifax, N.S., Montreal and Vancouver. Canadian inspectors will have the same authority in the Port of New York/New Jersey and in Seattle.

NAFTA Notes: BAX Global has introduced DirectShip North America for imports into the United States, Canada and Mexico. The service consolidates consignments into a single shipment, expedites customs clearance, breaks the consolidation down into individual shipments, and provides time-definite delivery throughout North America. Overnite Transportation's Advantage Canada LTL service now includes all Canadian provinces and territories, including the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and Nunavut. LTL carrier Con-Way Canada Express has opened new, larger service centers in Montreal, Que., and Windsor, Ont. Roadway Express and its Canadian subsidiary, Reimer Express Lines, have received approval from Canada Customs and Revenue Agency to participate in the Customs Self Assessment (CSA) program. Air Canada has opened a new cargo hub at Toronto's Pearson International Airport that boasts 50 percent more capacity than the carrier's previous facility did as well as fully automated conveyor and inventory control systems.