House moves to limit pilot program for Mexican trucks

House moves to limit pilot program for Mexican trucks The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to block the Bush administration’s effort to allow Mexican trucking companies to operate deep within the country on a trial basis.
   The Department of Transportation was moving fast to allow 100 Mexican highway carriers to operate up to 1,000 trucks beyond the current 20-mile zone surrounding the U.S-Mexican border in which loads must be transferred to U.S. trucking companies for inland delivery until Congress got in the way.
   In the face of opposition, the DOT agreed to publish and seek comment this month on details of the one-year pilot program and allow U.S. trucks to operate in Mexico from the start of the program. The original schedule for the plan, which had also faced considerable criticism from labor and trucking groups, called for U.S. trucks to have access to Mexico six months after the program began letting the Mexico-domiciled trucks enter the United States.
   By 411-3, the House voted to set strict limits on access to U.S. roads by trucks based in Mexico. Many members of Congress said the DOT had not satisfied several safety concerns that previous legislation had required be addressed before the border could be opened to Mexican truckers. Lawmakers have questioned the ability of Mexican trucking firms to meet U.S. safety standards.
   Among the objections are that Mexico lacks comparable hours-of-service rules restricting driver time behind the wheel, certified labs to test drivers for drugs and alcohol, similar licensing requirements, or driver data collection methods
   The Safe American Roads Act “will not allow DOT to conduct a one-year pilot as a ruse, while unilaterally deciding how and when to open the Mexico border,” said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, in a floor statement. 'Instead, the bill provides the U.S. with an opportunity to test, evaluate and learn from the impacts of allowing Mexico-domiciled trucks on our nation's highways, but only once a strict set of prerequisites are met and only under a specific set of conditions.'
   The bill provides authority for a three-year pilot program, but any failure by the DOT to comply with its conditions would require the program to be terminated. It also would codify the DOT’s agreement to open up its plan to public scrutiny and ensure equal access to Mexico for U.S. trucking firms.