Special delivery from Mexico

The world of materials delivery changed forever on Sept 6. Just mark it down as one more big change in the name of globalization.

The big rigs now are moving product from Mexico into the U.S., beyond the 25-mile buffer zone that acted as a barrier between Mexican truckers and the rest of the U.S. That's right, good buddy. Mexican trucking companies can make direct deliveries to any city in the U.S. Ross Perot and B.J. and the Bear must be having a collective seizure.

The newly granted access to Mexican companies is the result of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. It took this long to get rolling because of multiple political and legal objections. In fact, one more last-ditch effort, supported by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club, and consumer group Public Citizen, was thrown out of court on Aug. 31.

The system that exists now is fairly cumbersome for Mexican-based manufacturers exporting into the U.S. They can contract with a Mexican trucking company that goes directly into the 25-mile buffer zone in the U.S. for transfer of the goods to a U.S. company or can arrange to have the goods transferred before the border crossing. In some cases, they can make arrangements for much more expensive U.S. carriers to pick it up in Mexico and make the journey into the U.S.

Industry analysts believe that the pilot program, which will allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to have unfettered access to U.S. roads for their deliveries, will help lower the cost of goods for U.S. consumers and help Mexican manufacturers be more cost-competitive with overseas manufacturing rivals. Critics worry that Mexican trucks will prove to be a safety hazard on the U.S. roads and an unnecessary environmental burden. As it stands now, however, the Transportation Department's inspector general's office has worked very closely with the Mexican authorities that these worries do not come to fruition.

It's going to be very strange to see trucks with Mexican license plates barrel down this country's highways, but such is the world we live in. For those looking to put the emergency brakes on this shift in North American trade, you are about 13 years too late. This is one of the more noticeable steps toward the long-term goal of closer trade relations between the U.S. and Mexico.

If the price of a six-pack of Negro Modelo drops because of this new shipping arrangement, I can't say that this whole affair is a bad idea. In the words of someone much smarter than me, "A man has to believe in something, so I believe I'll have another beer."