A group of international arbitrators will hand down a decision soon on whether the United States has violated terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by not opening its borders to Mexican trucks.
The United States did not own up to its NAFTA promise to let Mexican trucks operate on US highways starting in December 1995, saying that Mexican trucks were unsafe. Mexico, fed up with the delays, took the United States to court in 1999, and a decision is expected "anytime now," a senior US official said.
NAFTA rules require that the United States open its border to Mexican trucks, without any barriers regarding vehicle safety. As a result, the United States will likely lose the arbitration.
The NAFTA agreement was supposed to open the border states - Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California - to Mexican trucks by 1995. By last year, 48 states were to have been open to Mexican trucks. As it stands now, Mexican trucks can travel only a narrow strip near the border that lets them travel no more than 20 miles into the United States.
AmeriCold Begins Third Phase of Southgate AmeriCold Logistics has broken ground for a third addition to its Southgate Distribution Center. The warehouse, located in Westgate Center of Fulton Industrial Park in Atlanta GA, currently has 8,355,506 cubic feet of warehouse space and employs 70 associates. Southgate Phase III will increase the size of the entire facility to 13,355,506 cubic feet and will employ another 35 to 50 associates.
The decision to expand Southgate was solidified by the signing of a long-term contract between AmeriCold and Mrs Smith's Bakeries. This facility will provide warehousing and transportation services for Mrs Smith's retail, bakery/deli, and foodservice businesses. Choate Construction Co is the general contractor awarded the project, which is set for completion by second-quarter 2001.
