Commercial crossings at Borderland points of entry anticipating delays

JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- Three weeks ago, border officials shut down cargo entries into the U.S. at the Bridge of the Americas. Those cargo entries restarted this week.

In a morning news conference in Juarez, the Mayor, business executives, and cargo leaders in Juarez said more than 20,000 trucks became stuck during the shutdown.

Manuel Sotelo, the president of the Association of Transportists in Juarez, said since secondary checks by the Texas Department of Public Safety started, truck drivers have been slowing down their border crossings.

Now that the Bridge of the Americas resumed operations since Tuesday, cargo leaders and authorities in Juarez hope Texas DPS will not start conducting these inspections at BOTA as well.

Cargo transports at the Tornillo, Ysleta, and Santa Teresa ports of entry have continued to see long lines.

According to officials with the state of Chihuahua, from September 18 to October 10 more than 1,836.96 million dollars have been lost with these 20,000 trucks that have not been able to cross and deliver their merchandise.