Teamsters oppose Mexico truck program

Teamsters oppose Mexico truck program    Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said the U.S. Department of Transportation should not open the border to Mexican trucks because of concerns about job loss, border security, highway safety and the legality of the program.
   He said DOT's proposal to open the border 'fails to adequately protect our members, their families and the traveling public from the potential danger of unsafe Mexican trucks and drivers, who do not meet or will not adhere to all U.S. safety standards.'
   The Teamsters Union formally submitted comments on Friday.
   The union said the current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposal is a “significant improvement over the prior program,” but “there still remain significant gaps in transparency, enforcement mechanisms and safety measures to ensure that Mexican trucks and drivers participating in this from border trucking program meet all U.S. safety standards while operating in the United States.”

Hoffa

   Citing a travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department telling U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to portions of Mexico because of crime, Hoffa said it is “very clear that the safety of the U.S. drivers traveling into Mexico cannot be ensured, and therefore simultaneous and comparable authority is not made available to U.S. motor carriers under the pilot program,' Hoffa said.
   Hoffa also said the program threatens U.S. warehouse and truck driving jobs at a time of high unemployment.