Laredo to require carriers using border bridge to have $100 in account

The city of Laredo, Texas, recently passed an ordinance requiring all trucking companies using the World Trade Bridge to have $100 minimum in their automated vehicle identification (AVI) accounts in order to pay crossing fees.

The ordinance, which was unanimously approved by the city council on July 22, is aimed at ferreting out commercial operators whose empty accounts have resulted in their being forced to turn around on the U.S. side of the international bridge, causing massive delays and long lines for other truckers.

For commercial trucks, the fee to cross Laredo’s World Trade Bridge and the nearby Colombia Solidarity international Bridge can be up to $20.

“The anticipation will be that the new rule will greatly reduce and eventually eliminate turnarounds due to insufficient funds,” Laredo Mayor Victor Trevino said in an email to FreightWaves.

Trevino said when trucks have to make U-turns at the World Trade Bridge because of insufficient funds, it interrupts the flow of traffic, as well as hurts trade between the U.S. and Mexico

“The purpose of this is to avoid a loss of time, revenue and job creation due to turning trucks around because of insufficient funds,” Trevino said during the July 22 City Council meeting. “The reason for this is that it doesn’t make any sense that we’re having trucks carrying millions of dollars in goods, and then for $20, we’re going to send them back. It doesn’t make sense for international trade or for us or even for them. We need to implement this modification of this system to keep all the trucks flowing.”

Laredo officials recently met with Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs, who told them that every 10 minutes they see $27 million worth of commercial goods that support around 3,000 jobs crossing the World Trade Bridge from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Nuevo Laredo is the sister city of Laredo, just across

Source: freightwaves.com