As managing editor of The plastics industry played a role in a historic event on Friday -- the first-ever U.S. trucker to haul a shipment across the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to this news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation, a truck from Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution in El Paso, Texas, crossed the border at 9 a.m. Sept. 14, hauling a load of plastic resin to Obregon, Mexico, which is near Hermosillo.
“Today is historic. We’re giving U.S. trucking companies the opportunity to compete in a new market that they have never before been allowed to penetrate,” said John H. Hill, FMCSA Administrator. “These opportunities will help reduce costs for American consumers and businesses while increasing trade efficiency at the border and maintaining safety on America’s highways.”Thousands of Mexican commercial trucks operate every day in U.S. cities like San Diego and El Paso and last year made more than 4 million crossings into border commercial zones, which extend approximately 20-25 miles into the United States. U.S. commercial trucks, however, have never had the authority to operate in Mexico.
Transportes Olympic, a Mexican trucking company based in Nuevo Leon, earlier last week became the first Mexican carrier to operate beyond U.S. commercial border zones, as part of the demonstration project. The company delivered a load of steel to North Carolina, where it will be used to build a Baptist church.