WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to delay a Bush administration plan to allow MEXICAN TRUCKS full access to U.S. highways.
The trucks would have to be declared safe first, the lawmakers said, and MEXICO would have to give U.S. truckers the same access south of the border.
The House voted 411-3 to approve a three-year DEPT OF TRANSPORTATIONpilot program that would restrict opening the border to 100 carriers based in Mexico. They would be allowed to use a maximum of 1,000 vehicles under the pilot program.
the bus admin wanted to start a pilot program this year that would run for a year before fully opening the border to Mexican trucks.
The House bill, however, specifies criteria for the pilot program before it can start, including setting up an independent panel to evaluate the test program and getting certification from the inspector general that safety and inspection requirements have been met.
The Department of Transportation says it could be as late as 2008 before Congress's criteria are met, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Lawmakers said their major concern is whether Mexican trucks, often older than U.S. cargo vehicles, and Mexican drivers will be able to meet rigorous U.S. safety standards.
"We do not need 90,000-pound unguided missiles on our highways," said Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C.
American trucking companies have spent years getting their vehicles up to the Transportation Department standards, lawmakers said. Letting Mexican trucks across the border without making them meet those standards is wrong, they said.
"We're going to have a major accident somewhere, and people are going to say, 'How did this happen?" said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif.
Added Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich: "We need to ensure that this program only takes places after the Mexican companies meet the same conditions that American companies do."
Lawmakers also complained that allowing Mexican trucks greater access will cost American truckers their jobs.
"You can get a Mexican truck driver to work for a heck of a lot less than a Teamster in the UNITED STATES and you can get a Mexican dock worker to work for a heck of a lot less than a longshoreman in the United States and that's what this is ultimately designed to do," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.
The BUSH ADMIN had planned to run a yearlong pilot program that would allow Mexican trucks beyond the current 20-mile limit from the border but the launch was halted after complaints from Congress.
Since 1982, trucks have had to stop within the buffer zone and transfer their loads to U.S. truckers to take them into the country. The legislation would allow Mexican drivers to take their loads from Mexico to any point within the country.
Supporters of the plan say letting more Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. They include many in the trucking industry, the Bush administration and lawmakers who favor the North American FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, or NAFTA.
Access to all U.S. highways was promised by 2000 under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, as was access through Mexico for U.S. carriers. That aspect has been stalled by lawsuits and disagreements between the two countries, though Canadian and U.S. trucks travel freely across the northern border.

Well thats good to hear.

about time washington did something for the driver

our gov has soldout many workers in america and you are the latest!!!!!!!!!
I think truckers can shove this up our govs butt. A 3-4 day total shut down of trucking would have them crapping their pants. this could be put out on cb radios and executed in a matter of days and nearly all truckers could participate (a week off is a small price to pay for your future job and wage security). this country would shrivel up and die without the AMERICAN TRUCKERS...

SHOW OUR GOVERNMENT THE POWER OF TRUCKERS AND PUT A STOP TO THIS MADNESS !!!THE TRUCKERS I KNOW WONT TAKE THIS LAYING DOWN

Good Luck with that.

ok here it is...company drivers with good benefits, who do not pay the fuel, get home often and are generally happy will not shut down. it will be the independants who are most likely to shut down, however doing so will be costly to most including losing their contracts etc.....i am all for a shut down. i am an independant contractor. i am hearing whispers calling for a shut down. let me know when the shouting begins and trucks really start shutting down not just talking about it. truckers today are soft. not like the truckers of yesturyear who would act upon their beliefs and stand for justice. i agree it is time for the truckers to unite and make a stand. GOD help us, we need to do something to get someones attention. things are getting out of hand. even if we shut down for a couple of hours nation wide it would make an impact. i think another alternative to shutting down would be to make some noise.....a certain time every day.......lay on the air horn!!!!!! we could all participate in this without losing anything. we could do this in protest of fuel, cheap freight...whatever. do it for 1 week. then if need be get more drastic and organized with a complete shut down.

If you had a union...you could do this.

I've quit OTR years ago and had settled down to an hourly paying local job, coming home every night. With all the mess NAFTA is causing, I think all OTR drivers should send a strong message to all these trucking companies and Washington DC;

I'm going to quit OTR and just get a local hourly-paying job, and I'm not going back to OTR till they kill NAFTA and pass legislation to prevent another bill like this from ever being introduced.

Passingtrucker
If we all did it today someone would hand 5 million or so of the "illegals" work visas tommorrow. Then they would justify their existance as "taking jobs US citizens don't want". But it did make me think for a moment.
'Preciate it!

__________________
Headed the Wrong Way...makin Real Good Time!

Well BushCo and his corporate cronies have found a way around the new law, are you really surprised. These people care so much for America they found a loop hole...

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

U.S. moves ahead with Mexican truck program

White House defies Congress, pointing to loophole in new law

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is going ahead with a controversial pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways despite a new law by Congress against it.

The decision to proceed with the four-month-old program, which allows participating Mexican trucking companies to send loads throughout the United States, comes despite language in the recently signed catchall spending bill aimed at blocking it.

The Department of Transportation is taking advantage of a loophole in the new law, which prohibits the government from spending any money to "establish" the program. The government says the new rules don't apply to the current program since it was started in September.

"The U.S. Department of Transportation will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico," said Melissa Mazzella DeLaney, spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. "The current cross-border trucking demonstration project — established in September — will continue to operate in a manner that puts safety first."
Congressional opponents of the programs insist that it's clear what lawmakers were trying to do last year when both House and Senate voted against allowing the program to go forward.

The provision, as signed by President Bush last month, says: "None of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico."

"They know what the law says," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who won a 74-24 vote to block the program. "And they're not above the law."
The hotly contested program, opposed by labor, independent truck owners and environmental groups, permits up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads.

Opponents have been fighting the measure — part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement — since it was first proposed, saying the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs. And they say that there are insufficient safeguards exist to make sure that Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. carriers.

"When you open up U.S. highways to long-haul Mexican trucks without equivalent safety standards, it poses risks for American drivers," Dorgan said.

Supporters of the plan say letting more Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. And they say U.S. trucking companies will benefit since reciprocal changes in Mexico's rules permit U.S. trucks new access to that country.
Since 1982, Mexican trucks have had to stop within a buffer border zone and transfer their loads to U.S. trucks.

Still, there's widespread opposition to the program within Congress. The House voted without a roll call in July to block the program and the Senate's 3-to-1 margin in September to block it came despite administration assurances that safeguards are in place to "ensure a safe and secure program."

The Teamsters Union, Sierra Club and Public Citizen joined together in a lawsuit filed in August seeking to block the program.
A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12 before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Teamsters spokeswoman Leslie Miller said.

KJ