Teamsters, citizen groups file suit over DOT cross-border program

Teamsters, citizen groups file suit over DOT cross-border program Citizen and labor groups, including the Teamsters union, filed suit in federal court this week to prevent implementation of a Bush administration cross-border truck pilot program that would allow Mexican-domiciled trucks deep into the United States.
   The lawsuit, brought by the Teamsters, the Sierra Club, Public Citizen, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and two smaller groups, charges that the one-year pilot program has not met federal disclosure requirements. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction against the implementation of the project until those requirements can be met.
   Filed in the San Francisco-Oakland, Calif. division of U.S. District Court, the suit names U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters as a defendant.
   The U.S. Department of Transportation said in February it would begin a one-year pilot program to allow a government-certified group of 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate beyond the current 20- to 25-mile commercial zones along the U.S. Southwest border. After the first six months, the program would be reciprocal, allowing a similar number of U.S.-domiciled trucks to operate in Mexico.
   Scheduled to begin within weeks, the pilot program has come under intense scrutiny and criticism since it was announced.
   Earlier this month, an amendment to an armed forces appropriation bill by Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Diane Feinstein of California sought to put the brakes on the DOT program, addressing some of the same concerns that the new lawsuit raises.
   The amendment requires the DOT to go through a public comment period before starting the program, and fully explain how it intends to implement safety inspections, driver hours-of-service, drug testing and other steps to ensure compliance with U.S. highway safety standards. The Bush administration has said it intends to start the program without any comment period.
   The amendment would also prohibit Mexican trucks from gaining access to U.S. highways unless reciprocal access to U.S. drivers into Mexico is granted at the program's start.
   In March, two leaders of congressional transportation committees added their support to a separate bill seeking to place restrictions on the program.
   House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., signed on to cosponsor the Safe American Roads Act of 2007, introduced in March by Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan.
   The SARA legislation seeks to restrict the DOT's ability to grant access authority to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers, unless the entire project meets all 22 requirements of the fiscal year 2002 Department of Transportation Appropriations Act and all requirements set forth under TEA 21 relating to pilot programs.
   It also seeks to prohibit the DOT from initiating the program until reciprocal U.S. motor carrier access is granted. In addition, the DOT would have to provide notice and opportunity for public comment on the details of the program, including the measures in place to protect the health and safety of the public, enforcement measures, penalties for non-compliance, and safety metrics used to evaluate the program.
   The bill also includes monitoring requirements by the Inspector General's office and calls for the issuance of a formal DOT report to Congress upon the program's completion.
   Oberstar and DeFazio have been vehement in their criticism of the truck program since the DOT startup announcement. Both have called for an investigation into the program by the DOT Inspector General.