FMCSA rolls through Congressional stop sign for Mexico truck program

The Trucker Staff

12/27/2007

WASHINGTON — Language designed to take the wheels off of a controversial trucking program between the United States and Mexico, having completed its lawmaking rounds between Capitol Hill and the White House, apparently has lost something in translation on its way to the Department of Transportation. The NAFTA cross-border demonstration project will go on, or so says the agency charged with administering it. Lawyers, opponents respond, can expect some additional work in the new year.

At issue is a single paragraph in the massive omnibus spending package approved by Congress and signed by President Bush Wednesday. That $555 billion bill funds the Iraq war into next year and keeps the federal government running through September.

For truckers, however, the bill is about cutting off funds for the plan to allow up to 100 Mexico-based carriers long haul access to and from the U.S., with reciprocal rights for U.S. freight haulers. The plan is designed to comply with treaty obligations under NAFTA, with an aim to simplfiy and speed the flow of goods between the partner countries.

“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,” the amendment says.

Simple enough, say the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and an array of highway safety advocates and anti-immigration groups.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, however, reads the fine print differently.

“In accordance with the 2008 omnibus appropriations act, the U.S. Department of Transportation will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico.,” an FMCSA statement, released after the bill was signed, reads. “The current cross-border trucking demonstration project — established in September — will continue to operate in a manner that puts safety first, with participating Mexican carriers subject to all safety standards required by the 2008 omnibus bill, while giving U.S trucking companies new opportunities and U.S. consumers significant savings.”

The decision to continue to operate the program, however, comes as no surprise to those who have fought the plan since it was officially announced early this year.

“We want to send a very big thanks to our association members for their participation in keeping the amendment in the bill,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer in a statement Wednesday. “We also thank Congress for voting on numerous occasions in favor of the safety and security of our nation’s highways.”

But, Spencer adds, “Apparently there is no need for representation in Washington, D.C., as long as we have a rogue administration driven by global economic interest in profits.”

Indeed, the Teamsters had issued a chiding of their own as soon as the bill hit the President’s desk for his signature last week.

“We expect the Bush administration to stop this program in its tracks the instant the bill is signed,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has shown over and over that it can’t be trusted to obey the law. If FMCSA doesn’t halt long-haul trucks from Mexico at the border, you can bet the Teamsters will be in court to stop them.”

The Teamsters and OOIDA are already in court — the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco — to halt the cross-border truck project. The case is expected to be heard in February, the Teamsters’ statement noted.

“The pilot program was illegal in the first place,” Hoffa said. “Now Congress has made it absolutely clear that it would be lawless for FMCSA to continue it.”

As of Thursday, the FMCSA’s cross-border Web site shows 10 Mexico-domiciled carriers with 55 trucks have been approved under the program. From the U.S. side, four carriers with 41 trucks have been cleared for long-haul runs into Mexico.