MEXICANS TRUCKS * USA - Obama praises Mexico for their efforts to end a long-standing dispute over cross-border trucking.

(Video from YouTube, by PKingman - 9 Nov 2006: Riding the Sunset Limited west across Texas from some oint past Del Rio in March 1991)

Washington,DC,USA –Associated Press, by Julie Pace -3 March 2011: -- Seeking to repair damaged relations, President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon agreed Thursday to deepen their cooperation in combating drug violence and declared a breakthrough in efforts to end a long-standing dispute over cross-border trucking... An Obama administration official had said in advance of the news conference that the two leaders agreed to a phased-in plan that would authorize both Mexican and U.S. long-haul carriers to engage in cross-border operations provided the Mexican trucks meet U.S. safety standards. Both countries were given this authority under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, but the U.S. has refused to allow Mexican trucks access amid concerns over its ability to meet America's stringent safety and environmental standards... Mexico has placed higher tariffs on dozens of U.S. products in response to the unresolved dispute. The official said Mexico will agree to lift those tariffs in phases, with all tariffs lifted once the first Mexican carrier receives authorization to travel on U.S. roads... Negotiating teams are still working out final details of the plan, and are expected to send an agreement to Congress this spring, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the plan ahead of Obama's public statement...

* USA - OOIDA outraged with cross-border trucking plan

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -March 3, 2010: ... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association learned shortly before the announcement that there is not 100 percent agreement on the program, but the Department of Transportation still expects to publish the proposal in the Federal Register in late March or early April. The plan to press forward with opening the border does not sit well at all with OOIDA...  “Simply unbelievable,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. “For all the president’s talk of helping small businesses survive, his administration is sure doing their best to destroy small trucking companies and the drivers they employ.” ...  Spencer pointed to the numerous proposed regulations the Department of Transportation continues to use to target U.S. truckers...  Mexico is also pressuring the U.S. to give Mexican motor carriers that were part of the previous cross-border program credit for the time they operated in the U.S. That means after 18 months’ worth of operations in the U.S., they could be granted permanent operating authority to run in the states...  Even if the pilot program is canceled, Mexican trucks with permanent operating authority would be able to continue to operate in the United States...