Mexico Trucker Online

NUEVO LAREDO — After 18 hours of blocking traffic in both directions on the international World Trade Bridge, Mexican truck drivers signed yet another agreement with Mexican Customs officials Wednesday acceding to the drivers’ demands for more stations to speed up the crossing process.“It’s a very reasonable agreement for all sides,” said Jose Guadalupe Bautista, a Nuevo Laredo customs broker who was involved in the negotiations. “Fortunately, things turned out well.”

Asked if he thought the agreement was just a Band-Aid approach to a serious problem, Bautista emphatically said it would work because all parties are solidly behind the deal.

Mexican Customs officials have previously promised the drivers that they would add more personnel and open more crossing stations but that hasn’t happened, frustrating the drivers.

In both of the previous protests, drivers agreed to call off their blockade after an agreement was signed by the drivers, Mexican Customs officials, transportation company representatives and customs brokers.

This time, Bautista said, the agreement includes a joint committee that will review the situation every 10 days to determine what progress has been made to meet the agreement. The committee will include the mayor as well as a national-level Customs official, customs brokers, transportation company representatives and truck drivers.

Once again, Mexican Customs officials committed to opening 10 crossing stations that would be open from 8 a.m. to midnight during the week and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

They agreed that only one crossing station would be designated for the importation of used vehicles by Mexican nationals known as paisanos and efforts would be made to assign these vehicles to a specific area for more efficient processing, according to the agreement.

The agreement also eased truck drivers’ concerns about possible retribution for the blockade; government officials promised not to seek any kind of action against the drivers because of the protest.

The blockade began at about 4 p.m. Tuesday, and showed no signs of breaking up until Luís Moreno Sesma, president of the transportation services headquarters and national transportation association, took on the role of intermediary and asked Peña Treviño for help in bringing truck drivers and federal authorities to the table.

After the agreement was signed at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, tension dissolved and joyful truck drivers declared victory, sounding their horns as they began clearing the lanes to allow traffic to resume in both directions.

During the protest, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials kept a close eye on the protesters from the ground and the air but took no action. Laredo Police officers were stationed on Loop 20, directing tractor-trailer traffic to the Columbia-Solidarity Bridge farther north.