PHARR, Texas - Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority’s legislative agenda has been stymied because state officials believe too much illegal activity is happening on its overweight corridors.
This is the view of the group’s chairman, Robert Lozano.
“The issue has become, frankly, that… we cannot talk about overweight corridors right now, and to some degree, it’s become a four-letter word up at the state level. And that is because there is a great deal of issues with illicit activity on our overweight corridors,” Lozano said, at a recent HCRMA board meeting.
“The state, rightfully so, is trying to crack down on that. And they're monitoring the overweight corridors, much, much more carefully, perhaps, than they did in the past.”
That illicit activity involves stolen fuel being transported on the overweight corridors, Lozano explained.
“You’ve probably read about it in the paper, or you're up to speed, but if you're not, a whole lot of it has to do with fuel transports. There's some not good activity surrounding fuel transport at times,” Lozano said.
“Some (of the taxes) may not be getting to the state. And (the trucks carrying the fuel) end up at the border and they're crossing the border and some of those dollars are ending up with the cartels, if you will.”
Lozano spoke about the illicit transportation of fuel when giving his update on HCRMA’s legislative agenda.
“We did not get a lot of the items we had on our legislative agenda passed. How do we answer the stakeholders that come to the RMA that are asking for expansion of the overweight corridors? That was part of our ask (to the Legislature),” Lozano said.
“You've got great businesses and more every day that are all around us and they're trying to move their products on our roadways. In fact, (that product) is legally permitted on an overweight truck. You would rather have them on a specified corridors that are designated as an overweight corridor.”
Lozano said the number of truck inspections on Hidalgo County’s overweight corridors by the Texas Department of Public Safety has increased significantly. Tired of being stopped so frequently by DPS, trucking companies are not renewing their purchase of permits to use the overweight corridors, Lozano pointed. He said this has led to a loss of revenue for HCRMA because the group administers the issuance of the permits.
“We've seen that decrease over the last several months,” Lozano said, referring to HCRMA’s revenue from issuing overweight corridor permits.
“Certainly, we don't want any illicit activity going on anywhere in our communities. But (legitimate) businesses and industries that are moving up and down and growing produce, business, that use these corridors, they’re being impacted. They too are being monitored and stopped, etc. And so, the overall climate is making it such that it's having an impact all the way down here on us.”
Editor’s Note: Here, below, is a video recording of Chairman Lozano giving his legislative update to the HCRMA board of directors. He and his fellow board members discuss the issue in depth with the group’s executive director, Pilar Rodriguez.
