Texas Senator John Cornyn & Texas DPS weigh in on proposed Mexican truck program

“The Texas D.P.S. has significantly enhanced commercial vehicle enforcement activity along the U.S.-Mexico border since 2003-4 through border staffing grants from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in anticipation of the full implementation of Nafta at some future date,” said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the public safety department. “All commercial vehicles, including commercial vehicles operated by Mexican-based carriers, entering the U.S. through commercial border crossings from Mexico are already subject to various types of inspections by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, as well as the Texas D.P.S.”

Under the Transportation Department proposal, which the administration emphasizes is only a starting point for negotiations, Mexican carriers applying to the program would have their information vetted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. And for “an agreed-upon period of time,” Mexican drivers and vehicles would be inspected by American officials every time a tractor-trailer entered the United States.

Ms. Mange said the public safety department was not convinced that allowing the long-haul program would cause a meaningful change in the amount of traffic on Texas highways. That is because the goods coming across the border are currently transported by trucks, though ones driven by Americans, to destinations throughout the United States and Canada.