ROMANO CEDILLOS

Giving Mexican commercial truckers more access to American highways won't be the safety and environmental threat some predict, an Arizona trucking official said yesterday.

"The opening of the (U.S.-Mexico) border to Mexican trucks is really reasonable," said Karen Rasmussen, president of the Arizona Trucking Association. The group represents about 300 trucking companies.

"We have no problem with it, she added. "We don't see that it's going to be that big a change."

Mexican trucks will have to adhere to stringent environmental and safety requirements that American trucks are bound by, Rasmussen said. She added that this will prevent many trucks from traveling U.S. highways, and those who choose to will have to be insured by a U.S. insurance company.

That presents another problem, Rasmussen said.

"I haven't talked to any insurance company yet that will insure a Mexican driver unless he has experience driving in the U.S. driving for a U.S. carrier," she said.

While Rasmussen said increasing Mexico's access to U.S. highways is a positive step, such obstacles must be addressed before the initiative becomes a reality.

On June 8, the U.S. Supreme Court opened U.S. highways to Mexican trucks, paving the way for 25,000 to 50,000 rigs to rumble through the Southwest each year. The court ruled the Bush administration has the right to allow Mexican trucks to travel beyond the current 20-mile limit along the U.S. border without a more extensive environmental review.

Rasmussen voiced her group's support of Mexican trucks on American highways during Thursday's opening session of the Arizona-Mexico Commission's 2004 Summer Plenary Session. It is being held through today at Phoenix's Pointe Hilton Mountain Resort, 7777 S. Pointe Parkway.

The cross-border commission, chaired by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, provides leadership to help improve the region and create opportunities, services and initiatives for business and personal growth. The session brings together legislators from Arizona and Sonora, as well as people from business and public sectors, to discuss the regional economy and environmental impact of business on both sides of the border.

Augustine Garcia, director of the Tucson-Mexico Trade Office, said an increased presence of Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will help improve trade relations between Tucson and its Mexican neighbors, and strengthen Tucson's image in the global market. To address challenges faced by Mexican truckers, the trade office presented to the commission an initiative to create a working group aimed at exploring the issue.

Garcia said the working group could include such public and private entities as the local trade office and Rasmussen's group, as well as Pima County, Tucson's National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, the Pima Association of Governments and state Commerce and Transportation departments.