Mexico's Senate plans to ask the government to delay until July a pilot program that would allow Mexican trucks into the US and US trucks into Mexico, the Communications and Transport Ministry said.

The pilot program, which was to have begun last week, faces opposition in the US, and has also generated concerns among Mexican truckers.

The ministry said in a press release that Communications and Transport Minister Luis Tellez will channel the petitions from the Senate and trucking organizations to the US government.

Mexican truckers are concerned that their US counterparts will have an advantage when they're allowed into Mexico six months later. The US Teamsters union and some legislators are also opposed to the program, citing safety concerns about Mexican trucks in the US.

Mexico's deputy minister for transport, Manuel Rodriguez, met Monday with members of the Senate Communications and Transport Committee.

The ministry said senators expressed support for the opening of cross-border transport, but plans to vote on an agreement to ask for the delay.

Access to the US for Mexican trucks, and vice-versa, was supposed to have gone into effect in 2000 under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, but the implementation has been continually delayed. (Dow Jones)