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U.S. Representative Alludes to Virtual Inspections for Commercial Bridges

During a press conference about Laredo area needs, the representative said that more technology is needed for commercial bridge crossings and to cut congestion.

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The city of Laredo sent a delegation this week made up of the mayor, several City Council members and members of the private sector to Washington, D.C., for meetings and activities aimed at bringing more resources and attention to Laredo area needs.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and Mayor Victor Trevino held a virtual press conference to speak about what they are doing at the capital and how they intend to bring more federal dollars to the area.

Cuellar talked about the recent opening of more FAST lanes at the commercial bridges, but he stated more has to be done to allow American specialists to go into Mexico to make sure they supervise the trucks crossing in efforts to make the process faster and better.

“The problem is that U.S. Customs and their IT specialists have not been able to go into Mexico for many years,” Cuellar said. “So how do you sign up more people so they could move through that FAST lane if customs doesn’t want to go to Mexico? The locals do want to do that, but they have to get the OK from the nationals.”

“One of the things we have been talking about is using virtual Zoom, so they can use those virtual inspections. We work on big things to little things that turn out to be big, because the more trucks that we get certified, the more FAST lanes that can come in and the less traffic backup at the bridge.”

Cuellar said technology is key to improving the inspection of vehicles and people coming through the area.

© Laredo Morning Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.