OTAY MESA, CALIFORNIA – – The big American Truck driver organization OOIDA really doesn’t like the idea of Mexican trucks getting access to the U.S. market.

OOIDA (the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association) members organized a demonstration at the American/Mexican border this week to show how determined they are to keep their Mexican neighbors south of the Rio Grande.

OOIDA members stood alongside both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as other opponents to the American open-border scheme.

The event took place just as the Obama administration awarded full U.S. operating authority to one trucking company in Mexico; a signal that some interpret as a welcome invitation to other Mexican fleets to operate Stateside.

“This is the wrong plan at the wrong time for an abundance of reasons,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer. “It’s irresponsible and reckless. The Administration should have considered attacking Mexico’s tariffs, not just surrendering to them.”

“People in Washington are constantly talking about two things these days – creating good jobs for Americans and cutting wasteful spending.  This program does exactly the opposite for both,” said Spencer. “This program will jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of thousands of U.S.-based small-business truckers and will undermine the standard of living for the rest of the driver community.”

Critics of the program say Mexican companies have an unfair advantage because they face fewer compliance rules and environmental regulations.

OOIDA remains unconvinced that U.S. taxpayers will benefit from supposed efficiencies that cross-border trucking proponents suggest will accompany the new program.

OOIDA points to a report issued by the Congressional Research Service in February 2010 which stated:

“The rationale of eliminating the truck drayage segment at the border, and of NAFTA in general, is to reduce the cost of trade between the two countries, thus raising each nation’s economic welfare. However the cost to federal taxpayers of ensuring Mexican truck safety, estimated by the US DOT to be over $500 million as of March 2008 appears to be disproportionate to the amount of dollars saved thus far by US importers or exporters that have been able to utilize long-haul trucking authority.  . . . Any accumulated savings in trucking costs enjoyed by shippers therefore should be weighed against the public cost of funding the safety inspection regime for Mexican long-haul carriers.”