The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) has voiced its approval of the plans by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Bush Administration to begin a one-year trial for Mexican trucking companies to transport goods within the United States.
"We believe the proposed pilot is in the best interest of insuring a safe and efficient transportation system to meet the projected growth in freight movement and it should go forward," John Ficker, president and chief executive officer of the NITL, said in testimony March 8 before a congressional subcommittee.
Ficker said the DOT has met all the mandated congressional requirements to allow safe Mexican trucking companies access to US markets. "These requirements are as stringent as those applied to US-based trucking companies," he said, adding, "I have had the opportunity to meet with and negotiate with several Mexican trucking companies in a previous position and I can attest that the companies I met with were as safe and professional as American trucking companies."
He estimated that US trade with Mexico ranges up to $2 billion dollars per day. "The safe and efficient movement of this commerce is essential to the growing economies of both countries," Ficker said. " The United States is a party to the North American Free Trade Agreement and we should honor the commitments made in that agreement including transportation."
US freight volumes are expected to have 100 percent growth over the next two decades with much of the growth coming from imported goods, both from off shore and from Mexico. "Meeting this need will require significant growth in the current transportation industry," Ficker said. "Effectively utilizing the transportation assets of both countries will be a component in meeting these growth projections. The current system of trans-loading trucks at the border is both inefficient and uneconomical for all parties. This proposed pilot will be an important step to the improvement in these important supply chains by eliminating this outdated process."