More Cross-Border Trucking Issues

Recently the NAFTA pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border and deliver into the U.S. has begun accepting Mexican applications. There are many restrictions as to how long they can stay and also they have to follow all the same laws the American drivers follow. The moral of the story is the high tariffs will be lifted saving America money but the Mexican drivers will come into the states and steal American jobs costing money.  This was an agreement was made back in 1995 and basically was never honored and now everyone has finally agreed on a program. No matter how you feel about it, it is happening. Personally, I see many problems with this cross border agreement…

·         I think this can have a very costly end result because now Mexicans have another way to get into the states legally and never go home. Also, with trucks being allowed to cross the border, they will have a higher likelihood of stowaways. With illegal immigration already such a big problem, I think this will only fuel the fire.

·         To those who follow the rules, this could also cause a problem for non-English speaking drivers. They could have more problems communicating with dispatch making it more difficult for them to even find work to begin with.

·         And most recently, Mexican drivers aren’t even signing up for the program. So far a minuscule 21 companies have applied and only two have been cleared to operate. Mexican companies complain that the requirements are too complicated, expensive and haven’t brought any benefits.

Hopefully there is a mutually beneficial solution in there somewhere; we’ll see how it plays out. Stay tuned.

Read more here: http://www.truckersnews.com/more-cross-border-carriers-sought/