Senate blocks Mexican trucks trial program
trucking companies. Many opposed this provision from the outset. Organized labor, public safety advocates, and others have waged a fourteen-year battle on Capitol Hill, in the executive branch, and the courts to keep Mexican trucks from operating beyond the twenty-five-mile border zone to which these trucks have been confined since 1982.
Some background: Until 1982, trucks from Mexico could drive anywhere in the United States. Since 1982 trucks from Mexico have been able to drive only in the roughly twenty-five-mile commercial zone along the U.S. border and can make deliveries in U.S. cities like San Diego, El Paso, and Brownsville. Cargo destined beyond the commercial zone must be off-loaded and transferred to American trucks.
The Teamsters Union, which has long fought the program, welcomed the Senate’s action. “The American people have spoken, and Congress has spoken,” said Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa. “Now it’s time for the Bush administration to listen. We don’t want to share our highways with dangerous trucks from Mexico.” Dorgan, a labor ally, led the drive to derail the trucking program, accusing the administration of ignoring safety concerns raised by DOT’s inspector general. He also deemed unseemly the administration’s decision to implement the pilot program Thursday night, an hour after receiving a report from the inspector general that pointed to ongoing concerns, including the fact that five states say they are not ready to enforce roadway and safety rules involving the Mexican trucks.
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), argued that the United States must live up to its treaty obligations, which have been affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court and a NAFTA tribunal. Seeking to blunt the Dorgan amendment, Cornyn offered an alternative that would keep the pilot program alive but impose new inspection and reporting requirements. That amendment failed on a 29-69 vote.
Michael: The text below should be in a blue box
Background
The Department of Transportation makes these arguments for allowing the trial program to proceed and, eventually, for the NAFTA provision to be implemented:
* Every day, nearly $2.4 billion in trade flows between the United States, Mexico and Canada. U.S. merchandise exports to Mexico and Canada are up 157 percent. The economies of all three countries have grown by more than 40 percent since NAFTA was signed in 1993.
* 75 percent of this commerce is carried by commercial trucks, but the current system of transferring products from the truck of
one country to that of the other costs consumers $400 million a year.
* Long-haul trucking to and from Mexico will allow goods to get to the marketplace as efficiently as possible on both sides of the border which translates into cost savings to the consumer.
* Every truck that crosses the border as part of the pilot will be checked — every truck, every time.
* Any truck with a safety violation that poses a risk to the traveling public — no matter how small or large — will be stopped until the problem is fixed.
* Drivers must have a valid commercial license, proof of medical fitness, and comply with hours-of-service rules.
* Drivers must be able to understand and respond to questions and directions from inspectors.
* Drivers may not be sick, tired or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
* Trucks must be insured and meet rigorous U.S. safety standards for the entire vehicle, including brakes, steering systems, tires,
axles, hoses, fuel tanks, head and tail lamps, turn signals, suspension systems, frame integrity and cargo securing equipment.
* No trucks hauling hazardous materials or buses carrying passengers will be involved in the test program.
* All trucks and all drivers entering the U.S. are screened by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers, which could include radiation portal monitoring and x-ray inspections of high risk cargo.
* All drivers must provide advanced cargo information, must meet immigration entry requirements and are subject to the U.S. import requirements.
