Teamsters, others sue to stop Mexico/U.S. truck plan

Teamsters, others sue to stop Mexico/U.S. truck plan With a Bush Administration plan to allow Mexican-domiciled trucks entry deep into the United States ready to start as soon as Saturday, five groups Wednesday filed a federal suit to block implementation of the contentious plan.
   Filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, the suit maintains that the Bush administration's pilot program, which authorizes up to 100 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the current 20- to 25-mile commercial zones along the U.S. Southwest border, violates several key congressional requirements. The suit asks for an emergency order from the court to stop implementation of the plan.
   The groups filing suit are Public Citizen, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Law Foundation, and the Brotherhood of Teamsters, Auto and Truck Drivers Local 70. The groups filed an emergency motion asking the court to delay the pilot program before it goes into effect in a matter of days.
   A Federal Register filing two weeks ago announced the administration's intent to move forward with the plan. The news came nearly six months to the day after the DOT announced in February plans to kick off the one-year pilot program no later than May.
   Opening the borders for trucks by 2000 was mandated under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. After the U.S. government failed to implement the truck provisions regarding Mexico, a NAFTA tribunal declared in 2001 that the United States must meet the provisions of the treaty regarding Mexican vehicles. Despite this, legislation and litigation — under the guise of safety and labor concerns — has kept the Mexican trucks limited to the narrow commercial zones along the U.S./Mexico border.
   Given the nearly seven-year delay of implementing the NAFTA provisions, the DOT announcement of the pilot program shocked many people. What followed were months of contentious public debate, congressional legislation and lawsuits from business and civic groups to stop or slow the plan.
   Criticism culminated in late May, with Congress adding an amendment to an Iraq war funding bill that placed stringent criteria on any plan to allow Mexican trucks further egress into the United States. The funding bill passed and was signed by the President.
   In early June, a bipartisan collection of more than 100 House members signed a letter delivered to the president expressing 'grave concerns' about the administration's continuing efforts to move the plan toward a launch date.
   Later the same month, the DOT's plans were dealt a more serious blow, with the U.S. House voting to limit funding to the proposed program.
   The voice vote to amend the 2008 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill said 'none of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish or implement a cross-border motor carrier demonstration or pilot project or program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border.'
   Sponsored by Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., Gary Miller, R-Calif., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the amendment was the third effort by Congressional representative to end the program before it began.
   The bill has been earmarked for debate on the floor of the Senate before the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
   Early in August, the DOT Inspector General released a report finding that the system used to monitor Mexico-domiciled carrier drivers with license convictions is not yet adequate. Officials still don't have the data necessary, the report said, to identify drivers not permitted to operate on U.S. highways. The report mirrored other Teamsters' concerns of the plan, including that a system designed to ensure Mexico-domiciled carriers comply with U.S. motor vehicle manufacturing safety standards is incomplete, and whether the drug and alcohol testing program is functional.