Washington, DC – The three-year program giving Mexican long-haul truckers access inside the US beyond the designated commercial border zone has officially expired, but the border will remain open to the 13 Mexico-domiciled carriers that were granted authority to participate in the project.

As required by statute, the Department of Transportation has completed a three-year trucking pilot program with Mexico,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) agency responsible for conducting the pilot project, said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

The controversial cross-border program, strongly opposed by the US trucking industry, was created in 2011 to evaluate the safety of cross-border long-haul operations, with 13 carriers participating in the program.

“Prior to making any additional determinations regarding cross-border trucking issues or specific carriers, the department will await expected reports on the pilot program from the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the DOT Inspector General,” the agency said.

“In the interim, based upon successful completion of the program, as well as a review of safety and inspection data collected during the program, the department has converted the 13 participants to provisional or standard operating authority, allowing those carriers to continue to operate in the United States.”

The 13 carriers will reportedly continue to undergo regular border inspections and be subject to all US motor carrier laws and regulations, the DOT said.

In addition, it said that there were no fatalities or major accidents involving Mexico-domiciled trucks during the current pilot or the previous pilot program that ended in 2009 when it was scrapped by Congress.

10/15/2014