Truckers Welcome Beginning of USMCA Agreement

“This means greater scrutiny of entities in cross-border trucking and enforcement of labor provisions.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement which enters into force today.

This newly ratified trilateral trade agreement replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Since USMCA negotiations began a few years ago, OOIDA has worked diligently with the United States Trade Representative, Members of Congress, Committees of Jurisdiction, and industry partners to amend the original NAFTA cross-border trucking provisions that harmed American small-business motor carriers and jeopardized highway safety.

“The USMCA creates a thorough review process to identify and remove Mexico-based carriers and operators that pose material economic harm to American truckers,” said OOIDA President, Todd Spencer. “This means greater scrutiny of entities in cross-border trucking and enforcement of labor provisions.”

The USMCA agreement includes the following trucking provisions:

• Requires the USDOT Inspector General to review the procedures and actions taken by the Secretary of Transportation to determine whether each Mexico-domiciled motor carrier with operating authority is in compliance with applicable Federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations.

• Requires the USDOT to undertake a survey of all existing grants of operating authority to, and pending applications for operating authority from, all Mexico-domiciled motor property carriers for operating beyond the Border Commercial Zones, including OP-1 (MX) and OP-1 operating authority.

• Establishes a thorough federal review process to restrict unsafe foreign carriers that pose material harm to American trucking entities from operating beyond the Border Commercial zones.

“This will hopefully prevent or reduce Mexico-domiciled carriers that are exploiting our laws from operating on U.S. highways, which has significantly lowered wages for American drivers across numerous segments of trucking,” adds Spencer.

OOIDA will continue working with the Administration and Congress on behalf of small-business truckers to ensure that cross-border trucking is a fair and mutually beneficial endeavor.

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