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Oct 23, 2007 3:11 PM

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, and Mexican Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez have asked Congress to reconsider its pending prohibition and let the cross-border trucking demonstration program between the two nations proceed.

In September, the US Department of Transportation began a cross-border trucking demonstration project that will allow up to 100 US trucking companies to operate in Mexico and up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate beyond commercial zones in the United States. The future of the program is in jeopardy due to pending legislation that would cut off federal funds for the demonstration.

“We want to demonstrate to Congress that tough safety standards and rigorous inspections work and that trucks participating in this program will have the same features, the same upkeep, and the same commitment to safety that any US truck has,” Peters said in a news release October 17.

Peters pointed out that Congress has spent $500 million since 1994 to prepare for the start of cross border trucking, funding hundreds of highly-trained inspectors, dozens of state-of-the art facilities, and rigorous new requirements to ensure every truck, every company, and every driver from Mexico that participates in this program meets every US safety standard without exceptions.