jurisdiction, and by difficulties obtaining a Mexican criminal lawyer who speaks English. Most

Mexican lawyers who commonly deal with English speakers specialize in commercial law.

Locating a suitable lawyer is likely to be particularly difficult outside of the major cities. If a

driver is found guilty of criminal negligence [which, again, may be simple negligence in the

U.S.] he/she may have to pay a fine or spend up to 20 years in a penitentiary [if there were

three or more fatalities] or both.

 It is difficult to imagine U.S. drivers operating in this legal environment. Likewise,

while Mexico has been willing to alter licensing, weight limits and other regulations to conform

better with the other NAFTA countries, it is almost inconceivable that they would be willing to

tailor the federal and state criminal codes to U.S. tastes. However, unless some accommodation

on this issue is reached, it seems likely that U.S. carriers will not use their drivers in Mexico,

and will continue to switch, at the border, to the power units of Mexican carriers (which may

or may not be their subsidiaries).


Fuel

 Diesel is readily available and prices are lower than in the U.S. However, there are

severe problems:



 By U.S. standards, the sulfur content [of Mexican diesel] is
 unacceptably high. It is three times the maximum allowable limit
 permitted by U.S. Federal law, and it exceeds Mexico's own
 national legal limit by fifty percent. Notwithstanding emission
 pollution concerns, the effect of this level of sulfur on engine life
 and performance is noteworthy. U.S. manufacturers of diesel
 engines advised that using Mexican diesel in U.S. engines would
 require a change in oil usage and possible engine-related
 modifications to increase water temperature, thereby reducing the