Who’s driving that semi-truck on the Interstate heading towards my family?
I-35 and Cross-border trucking On I-35, there are many 18-wheeler trucks traveling in both directions. In traffic or out of traffic, fast or slow; big rigs can be intimidating, and if an accident does occur, most passenger cars are not equipped to take on one of these rigs. I-35 runs from north to south from Laredo, Texas to Duluth, Minnesota, and is a major thoroughfare for interstate traffic. In fact, Laredo, the busiest port of entry on the Texas-Mexico border, is considered the “Gateway to Mexico.” Since the introduction of NAFTA, Laredo has experienced remarkable growth in border trade and traffic. According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 80 percent of all U.S.-Mexico trade moves by semi-truck. Want to see how large the problem and how quickly it’s growing? I’ll bet you didn’t know Chinese goods are even coming into America via Mexico. In 1998, Mexican motor carriers applied for permission to operate in the U.S. in accordance with NAFTA provisions. The start date was
