Court Blocks Bid to Stop Mexican Trucks at U.S. Border

By Mike Sunnucks
Sacramento Business Journal

A federal court on Friday refused to block the Bush Administration's new program allowing some Mexican trucks to deliver good within the U.S., turning down a legal challenge by union and environmentalist groups.

The Sierra Club and International Brotherhood of Teamsters asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to block the pilot program that would allow as many as 100 Mexican trucking firms to deliver good within the U.S. The program could start next week.

The groups asked the court to issue an emergency stay blocking the trucking plan, which is aimed at allowing Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S. and U.S. trucks to operate in Mexico.

While the request for an emergency order was turned down, no decision was made on the underlying case, which continues.

Opponents of the program cite safety concerns and competition between U.S. truckers, especially in border states like Arizona, California and Texas, with Mexican rivals.

The Bush administration responded in federal court documents that the opposition groups did not have standing to ask for emergency action because they cannot prove the pilot program will harm them.

"The emergency motion is notable for the complete absence of any assertion of immediate and irreparable injury," said the federal government's court filing.

The administration also said that each year trucks from Mexico make 4.5 million trips across the border into such U.S. cities as San Diego and El Paso, Texas. These trucks have a safety record that meets, and in some cases, exceeds the safety record of U.S. trucks, officials said.
Mexican trucks currently are allowed to deliver into border cities such as Nogales and Laredo, Texas. The new program would allow them to go beyond that.

From: Sacramento Business Journal (www.bizjournals.com)