Friday, May 22, 2009 – American truckers would be sharing the highways with Mexican drivers much sooner than anyone expected if U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has his way.

LaHood announced on Thursday that he wants to open the border to Mexican trucks as early as next month. The Congressional Quarterly reported it would not be simply a continuation of the original cross-border demonstration program.

Instead, according to CQ, it would be a permanent program with new safety guidelines.

How many trucks would be involved and what the safety guidelines would be won’t be known until LaHood unveils the plan to lawmakers during the first week in June.

How he expects to win Congressional support in just a matter of weeks is also unclear.

What is clear is that the process is moving much faster than expected, and OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer says now is the time for truckers to call their lawmakers to express their concerns.

Spencer says some of those concerns are related to safety and some are tied to economics.

“We, as citizens of America are spending billions and billions of dollars on stimulus – to stimulate American business and American economy and American jobs. Yet the economic policy that is associated with this would cost the jobs of literally thousands and thousands of U.S. truck drivers. Now that’s absolutely absurd and outrageous on its face.”

Spencer says there is no way Secretary LaHood could open the border without Congressional approval and that the earliest that could possibly happen would be in the fall.

He also notes that current U.S. law prohibits any new cross-border program unless it meets a long list of requirements.

– By Reed Black, staff writer
reed_black@landlinemag.com