Claiming “a unique practical and legal perspective,” the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA) has filed a petition to intervene in a cross-border trucking lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The lawsuit, filed in March by the Teamsters and highway safety groups, challenges the government’s decision to grant permanent operating authority to Mexico-domiciled trucking companies to conduct long-haul trucking services throughout the United States.

OOIDA’s petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit states that as the representative of small-business truck drivers, the association’s concerns differ compared to the other petitioners, both regarding the ability of Mexico-domiciled trucking companies to operate safely on U.S. highways, and in the economic interests of small-business truck drivers.

FMCSA’s three-year pilot program did not generate enough data to reach an informed conclusion about whether the border should be opened, OOIDA contends, and the association previously questioned the evaluation and validity of the information collected during the pilot program.

OOIDA argues that the border should not be opened unless and until Mexico establishes equivalent regulatory trucking standards to those of the U.S. and proves that its trucking industry can fully comply with U.S. safety regulations.