Senate set to vote on cross-border truck program

Senate set to vote on cross-border truck program The U.S. Senate plans to vote today on an amendment that would block the days-old Bush administration program allowing a select group of Mexican-domiciled trucks free-reign access to American highways.
   “My hope is the Senate will do as the House has done and we will put the brakes on the pilot program,” Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., told reporters Monday. Dorgan authored the bill up for consideration Tuesday, which seeks to deny funds to the truck program. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed similar legislation in July.
   Dorgan told reporters that the program still has too many unanswered questions regarding the safety of Mexican trucks.
   The program plans to grant up to 100 Mexican trucking firms with unfettered access to the United States. Under terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, signatories Mexico and the United States must allow unrestricted access to truckers from both countries. Since the 1995 NAFTA signing, legislation and litigation have kept Mexican trucks restricted to a 20 to 25 miles region near the border, except in Arizona where the limit is 75 miles. A NAFTA arbitration panel ruled in 2001 that the U.S. must abide by the terms of the treaty and open the border to trucks, but further litigation and debates with Mexican authorities created more delays.
   The Department of Transportation maintains that the 100 Mexican trucking firms scheduled to participate in the program, and their trucks, face safety requirements that are in some respects more stringent than those faced by their American counterparts.
   “It is unfortunate that some in the Senate would seek to deprive U.S. consumers of the significant savings, and U.S. truck drivers of the significant new opportunities, that the cross-border trucking demonstration project is generating,” John Hill, administrator of DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, told Reuters.
   The Senate on Monday briefly discussed the cross-border program, with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., urging members to pass Dorgan's amendment.
   “We do not want to impede legitimate commerce but safety is a very vital factor and there are good reasons to insist on safety and verification before we permit this pilot program,” Specter said.
   Republican senators said they would oppose any plan to stop the program.
   “Can’t we use some common sense here? This is not some enemy satellite on our border,” said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
   Opponents of the plan, such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, have voiced concerns about truck safety, hours of service rules for Mexican drivers, and lack of visibility into the driving histories of Mexican drivers.
   OOIDA, which represents truck drivers across the nation, filed a petition Friday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for a stay of the Department of Transportation’s cross-border trucking program.
   The filing also asks the court to issue the stay until the completion of a program review. OOIDA contends the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is implementing the border program without regard for congressional directives and legal requirements.
   “We believe we have a strong case against what is being called a pilot program, but is actually a stealthily implemented, preordained plan to fully open our highways to Mexican trucks. This is all done in the name of global economics and cheap labor,” Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA told Truckinginfo.com.
   Teamsters president James Hoffa, a vocal opponent of the program since it was proposed by the DOT earlier this year, called the program a 'sucker-punch' to U.S. workers. Noting that the vote falls on Sept. 11, he urged the Senate to act decisively to block the program.
   “[This is] the sixth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil,” Hoffa said. “I don’t see how any patriotic American could vote to allow these dangerous trucks to cross our borders and travel freely throughout our country.
   “We don’t know who’s driving these trucks and we don’t know what they’re carrying,” Hoffa said. “Weapons that could be used in a terrorist attack might be in the backs of these trucks.”