Congress Working To Stop Trucking Program Amidst Safety Concerns
September 14, 2007, WASHINGTON – U. S. Rep. Bart Gordon praised a U.S. Senate vote to deny funding for the Department of Transportation’s program to grant hundreds of Mexico’s trucks full access to U.S. roads.
“I’m glad the Senate has joined the House in working to stop this program while we have many reasonable concerns about safety,” said Gordon. “The Administration is moving pell-mell without stopping to address the concerns of Congress and the American people.
“There are clear differences in the standards for truckers in U.S. and Mexico. American truckers must adhere to stringent hours-of-service requirements, but Mexico’s drivers don’t have comparable requirements. And despite different licensing requirements for truckers, a Mexican license will be valid for driving here under this ill-conceived program.”
A federal court gave the Administration’s trucking plan the go-ahead despite safety concerns brought forth in a lawsuit from Public Citizen and other groups. As a result, the Department of Transportation is now allowing Mexican trucking companies to conduct long-haul cross-border operations. Prior to this new program, Mexico-based trucks could operate only in a roughly 20-mile commercial zone on the border, where their loads were transferred to U.S. trucks.
Now, Congress is fighting back through its hold on the Transportation Department’s purse strings. Both the House and Senate have voted to prevent the department from using its annual funding for implementation of the trucking program. A conference committee must now reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill before the measure will go to the president for his signature.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives approved the Safe American Roads Act, which would limit the number of trucks allowed to operate outside the commercial zone and would ensure those trucks meet U.S. safety standards. That bill, H.R. 1773, has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
