FMCSA Defends Its Mexican Truck Program, Rejects Challenges by Union, Public Citizen

The federal government defended its program allowing Mexican trucks into the United States, telling a court this month that the pilot program complies with all federal laws related to safety, environmental protection and driver licensing, in addition to the laws specific to the program itself.

In a Feb. 15 filing, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Teamsters union and Public Citizen are not eligible to challenge the program because none of their members is regulated by it or eligible to participate in it.

“Congress has enacted multiple statutes containing preconditions for any test of opening the border to longhaul operations by Mexico-domiciled trucks,” the agency stated. “In extensive Federal Register notices, FMCSA has explained how the pilot program meets each of those preconditions.”

The two separate lawsuits, one filed by OOIDA and one filed by the Teamsters union along with Public Citizen, challenge FMCSA’s pilot program, which allows some Mexican carriers to deliver throughout the United States.

Mexico and the United States agreed to the program in July and started it in October, ending $2.4 billion in retaliatory tariffs Mexico had imposed on goods imported from the United States when the United States ended its previous program, a move Mexico said violated the North American Free Trade Agreement (10-24, p. 7).

OOIDA filed its lawsuit in July, followed by the Teamsters in September. The Teamsters added environmental objections to its complaints in November, when Public Citizen joined the lawsuit.

Responding to the groups’ claims that the Mexican trucks are imported to the United States and should be regulated as such, FMCSA wrote that the Department of Transportation has exempted them from import regulations, and the deadline for challenging that decision has passed.

Both lawsuits challenge FMCSA’s decision to recognize Mexican commercial licenses without requiring drivers to obtain American commercial driver licenses. The agency defended that decision by referring to a previous regulation that it said a federal court has affirmed, allowing it to recognize the licenses. That regulation also allowed DOT to recognize the medical exams performed on Mexican truckers as equivalent to American requirements.

FMCSA rejected the lawsuits’ assertions that the agency did not follow laws enacted specifically to regulate the pilot program. A provision in FMCSA’s program allows Mexican carriers to use the time they served in the agency’s early demonstration program as credit toward earning full operating authority, a provision the agency said is required under the law.

The groups’ claims that FMCSA’s sampling methodology, which the agency uses to determine how to inspect trucks from a representative sample of carriers participating in the program, “lack merit,” the agency said.

FMCSA also responded to environmental objections from the Teamsters and Public Citizen, which argued that the agency erred when it decided not to conduct a comprehensive review of the environmental effects of the program.

The Supreme Court previously rejected those claims, ruling unanimously that FMCSA is not responsible for the environmental effects of the Mexican trucks entering the country, as the Teamsters and Public Citizen contend, the agency said.

“Teamsters do not and cannot challenge this holding,” FMCSA said of the Supreme Court decision. “Nor do they challenge FMCSA’s finding that the incremental impacts of implementing the president’s decision through the pilot program will be insignificant.”

The lawsuits were filed in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They remain separate lawsuits, though the court has ordered that they be argued on the same day. It has not yet scheduled the arguments.

Representatives from the Teamsters and OOIDA said the groups are reviewing FMCSA’s briefs. The groups must reply to FMCSA in court by March 7.

Only one Mexican carrier and one owner-operator have been granted authority under the pilot program, agency records show.

Transportes Olympic, which attained authority in October, has registered one truck and two drivers with the program (10-24, p. 7). Moises Alvarez Perez, who does business as Distribuidora Marina El Pescador, received authority in December and has one truck (1-9, p. 4).

As of Feb. 5, the most recent date for which FMCSA has data, Transportes Olympic had crossed the U.S. border nine times under the program. Alvarez had not yet crossed the border since entering the program.