Agency grants authority to tenth Mexican carrier

A tenth Mexican carrier has been granted authority to operate in the U.S. as part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s cross-border trucking pilot program, though FMCSA and its program are still caught up in a lawsuit with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters Union. 

Grupo Behr was given provisional authority Feb. 19. The carrier’s application was put on hold in 2011 due to concern over the carrier’s safety history. FMCSA says Grupo Behr has made sufficient changes since.

An appeals court in D.C. heard oral arguments from OOIDA and FMCSA  Dec. 6, but an opinion has not yet been made. OOIDA says that American drivers are held to a stricter standard than those participating in the cross-border program and that, according to the agency’s National Registry of Medical Examiners program, Mexican drivers are not qualified to operate in the U.S.

For more on the story, see CCJ sister site Overdrive‘s report.