SAN FRANCISCO - The Bush administration can go ahead with a pilot program to allow as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies to freely haul their cargo anywhere within the U.S. for the next year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request made by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and the nonprofit Public Citizen to halt the program.
The appeals court ruled the groups have not satisfied the legal requirements to immediately stop what the government is calling a "demonstration project," but can continue to argue their case.
The trucking program is scheduled to begin Thursday.
In court papers filed earlier this week, the Teamsters and Sierra Club argued there won't be enough oversight of the drivers coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
They also argued that public safety would be endangered in a hasty attempt by the government to comply with parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The trade agreement requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico and Canada to be opened to carriers from all three countries.
Canadian trucking companies have full access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks can only travel about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings such as ones in San Diego and El Paso, Texas.
Court: Mexican trucks program to proceed - Yahoo! News 
Judge Allows Mexican Trucks in US 
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