Directory describes Mexico's truckers The new 2000 edition of the Mexican Motor Carrier Directory, published by Transportation Technical Services (TTS) is now available in book or CD-ROM form.
The publication provides key profile information on 498 leading Mexican carriers - up 28% from last year's edition.
Demographic data on each firm includes company name, headquarters address, telephone and fax numbers, motor carrier ID number, name and official title of CEO, and year each was established.
The directory also identifies companies by primary commodities transported and by the number of trucks, tractors, and trailers owned. Newly included this year are (where available) Web sites and e-mail addresses.
TTS notes that it made over 1,400 phone and fax calls to obtain the information in the new edition. The directory, which is bilingual in English and Spanish, costs $145 in hard copy form. The cost of both the book and CD-ROM is $195.
To order the new directory, contact TTS directly at 1-888-ONLY-TTS (665-9887) or click on their Web site at www.ttstrucks.com.
After a 15-year absence, France's Renault SA will again produce cars in Mexico, after forming a "production alliance" with Japan's Nissan Motor Co.
Renault will invest $400 million over seven years in the venture. The French OEM's action marks the first major investment by a European company since Mexico signed a free-trade agreement with the 15-member European Union late last year.
Nissan, owned 37% by Renault since last March, has become a top Mexican car maker, holding a 22% share of the market.
Other vehicle makers that plan to invest in Mexico production include Sterling Trucks de Mexico, which plans to start building trucks there in two years.
NAFTA or not, it's still no go for Mexican carriers wanting to cross the border unless they meet U.S. safety standards.
That's the latest word from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT), which is essentially sticking with the policy it established in 1995.
DOT says "because of unresolved safety issues" it will not remove restrictions currently in place on trucks coming from Mexico into the U.S.
NAFTA, which was inked back in 1993, was to have given Mexican carriers unrestricted access to the U.S. beginning in '95.
However, that timetable has been pushed back twice already, thanks t o pressure from organized labor and concerns about the safety of Mexican trucks.
Joplin, Mo.-based CFI, an international truckload carrier, has formed CFI Logistica, a logistics company based in Queretaro, Mexico.
CFI Logistica will offer design, implementation, and management services for international logistics. Its primary focus will be on logistical challenges related to NAFTA trade. The operation is based in Mexico to serve customers requiring shipping expertise to, from, and within that country. The new firm can be contacted via its Web site at www.cfilogistica.com.
Named president/general director of CFI Logistica is Eduardo Chavez, who will report directly to CFI chairman & president Glenn Brown.
According to Brown, Chavez graduated from Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology with dual Engineering degrees and brings over nine years of transportation and logistics experience to his post. "I'm confident," says Brown, "in his ability to provide alternative and cost-saving solutions for our customers' ever-changing logistical needs."
The most recent figures suggest 1999 was a banner year for Class 8 truck sales in Mexico. In the first 11 months of last year, Class 8 sales reached 4,976 units, surpassing the 4,112-unit mark hit during the same period of 1998. And what's more, last November's sales came in at 600 trucks - or better than double the 296 vehicles sold during the same period the year before.
For the 11-month period, top sales honors went to Navistar International, which sold 2,479 units vs. 1,953 for the same period in '98.
