Can Mexican trucks and Mexican truck drivers legally enter the U.S.? In certain situations, yes. But those limited circumstances are being openly violated. And U.S. motor carriers should exercise due diligence before retaining a truck driver carrying a license from Mexico, just as they should with any driver.
The United States, Canada and Mexico adopted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), effective 1994, and then updated the trade agreement in 2020 through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). These agreements facilitated international commerce in North America through the reciprocal recognition of the CDLs issued by each country. Most cross-border international commerce, after all, is transported by truck.
At the same time, NAFTA and USMCA protected domestic commerce and domestic transportation workers in the United States by forbidding the use of foreign CDLs for point-to-point transportation within the U.S., a restriction echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/cargo-security/carriers/land-carriers/how) and by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/policy/dhs-cross-border-trucking-guidelines.pdf).
Beginning in 2020, Texas law enforcement officers noticed an increase in the number of truck drivers with fraudulently obtained Mexican commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), called a Licencia Federal de Conductores or LFCs. Texas discovered those illicit LFCs only after investigating unsafe driving violations, crashes, and deaths on Texas highways involving the LFC holders. In some instances, law enforcement officers needed to assist the LFC drivers in safely moving their trucks off the highway. Apparently, those drivers lacked basic training in how to drive a truck.
Some fraudulent LFCs were initially traced to flea markets where vendors unlawfully produced fake documents for Mexican workers residing illegally in Texas. But in 2021 the Mexican Department of Transportation (Secretaria de Communicaciones y Transportes, or SCT) began issuing digital LFCs and updated its website, providing Texas enforcement officers the ability to compare an SCT photo of a license holder with the person facing the officer. There, the depth of license fraud was slowly revealed. Fraudulent LFCs were being issued not just to Mexican citizens but to persons from Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Many of the transactions were conducted entirely online, at a cost of $2,000-$3,000 U.S. dollars.
Meanwhile, large encampments of Mexican commercial vehicles and their LFC drivers are found just outside major Texas cities, mostly engaged in hauling construction materials and aggregates – commonly, short-haul commodities whose transportation by a truck registered in Mexico, or operated by a driver with an LFC, would be in violation of the point-to-point restrictions of NAFTA/USMCA.
The Texas legislature unanimously passed legislation in 2023 to require foreign truck drivers to hold U.S. work authorization documents, as well as an LFC, when operating beyond the Texas/Mexico border counties. Enforcement of the new law has reduced crashes and improved highway safety in Texas. Unfortunately, some illicit LFC operators are now moving to other states, where they try to establish residency and trade in their Mexican LFC for that state’s CDL. U.S. federal transportation officials appear to view the situation as an immigration issue unrelated to highway safety.
For U.S. motor carriers who may be approached by a truck driver holding a Mexican LCF or a recently issued CDL from another state, remember that legitimate Mexican truck drivers may only operate in international commerce. And, as appropriate to any new hire, check all pre-employment background services, such as the driver’s Motor Vehicle Record (MVR), the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP), and whether the driver is registered in the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.
Due diligence also suggests conducting a quick driving test in the carrier’s yard and an interview about the driver’s background. Not originally from Mexico? Then that Mexican LCF is probably not valid.
This is not about immigration or politics. It is about highway safety.