A federal court in July ruled in FMCSA’s favor in the case, saying the cross-border program could continue. OOIDA and the Teamsters brought the suit due to what it said amounted to lack of qualifications of Mexican drivers in the program, as they had not been issued commercial drivers licenses by a U.S. state.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote the opinion on behalf of the three-judge panel that heard the case, said Congress had previously decided that Mexico-issued licenses would be viewed the same as state-issued CDLs.
OOIDA’s other case against the cross-border program — which alleged Mexican drivers were not held to the same safety and health standards as U.S. drivers — was also struck down by the same three-judge panel.
The Teamsters had alleged in the case there was not enough data available to properly judge the safety practices of the Mexican drivers in the program. The panel ruled FMCSA had “met its obligation” to include enough participants to gather safety data.
OOIDA has asked for a response from the Supreme Court by the end of November. Click here to see its petition.
