First Mexican carrier approved for cross-border transportation   

The FMCSA approved one Mexican carrier to operate into and out of the U.S. and has a second carrier is on hold for further safety investigation. The approved carrier is Monterrey-based TRANSPORTES OLYMPIC DE MEXICO S DE RL DE CV, DOT#: 555188. Before anyone gets too excited about either (a) a welcome relief to the upcoming shortage of truck capacity in the U.S. or (b) the loss of U.S. jobs to Mexican truckers and degraded safety on our highways, I point out that the carrier has a grand total of 2 tractors, 2 drivers, and 4 trailers.

The great news for the U.S. economy is that the Mexican government suspended the remainder of  its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to Mexico based on the U.S. finally honoring its NAFTA commitment to open our southern border in the same fashion our northern border has been open to Canadian-based truckers for many years. On the one hand, it is truly a remarkable show of faith by the Mexican government to suspend the tariffs based on one company with 2 trucks being allowed to operate into and out of the U.S. On the other hand, one has to wonder about our self-inflicted damage associated with cancelling the pilot program and dragging our feet on sorting this issue out if this is all it took to have the tariffs suspended making our exports more competitive to Mexican consumers.

The Teamsters and OOIDA may have let one carrier slip through but they are protesting the second carrier, Tijuana-based GRUPO BEHR DE BAJA CALIFORNIA SA DE CV, DOT#: 861744 and the FMCSA has obliged by holding off approval while conducting additional reviews of inspections and vehicles. You can read the details in the Federal Register. This carrier operates 3 straight trucks and 4 tractors, so it is easy to understand the Teamsters’ concerns about job losses for U.S. drivers.