SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexican officials are floating the idea of allowing truckers with empty rigs to cross the border in a southbound direction once the Mexican side of the new Otay Mesa II Port of Entry is complete.
Although it was expected to open later this year, work on the U.S. side of the border hasn’t even started, and it likely won’t be done until 2028.
On the Mexico side, however, the project is progressing on schedule.
“There’s the possibility to use infrastructure already at the crossing as a way to help truckers avoid long lines at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry,” said Arturo Espinoza Jaramillo, Baja California’s Secretary of Infrastructure and Urban Development.
He predicts the new port of entry on the Mexico side will be done by September and can begin processing trucks at that point.
Trucks near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)
Espinoza Jaramillo believes Highway 11, already built north of the border connecting the port of entry with San Diego’s highway system, could provide truckers with a roadway to reach Tijuana.
With the project stalled, Thomas E. Reott, U.S. Consul General in Tijuana, told reporters on Tuesday the idea is “complicated.”
He also said he is not too familiar with the plan being proposed by Baja California officials and declined to comment further.
Reott did say progress is being done to finalize contracts to begin work on the U.S. side. When completed, the border crossing will serve both commercial and passenger vehicles willing to pay a toll in both directions.
Truckers like Arturo Mendez, who has been driving commercial trucks between Mexico and the U.S. for 10 years, believes the idea is worth considering.
“It’s a good idea, it will help all truckers especially the ’empties’ that aren’t carrying anything back,” he said.
Mendez, like other truck drivers, said he often has to wait for hours to cross the border in both directions.
“This will get us across the border faster and we can get pick up more loads.”
Like most commercial drivers, Mendez gets paid by the load.
“They should try it, it will help us a lot.”
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