U.S. truckers, lawmakers unite in bipartisan opposition to cross-border trucking

Along with OOIDA’s Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, small-business trucker and OOIDA member Jose Escott spoke of concerns about opening the border to Mexico-based motor carriers. They were joined by Congressmen Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Bob Filner, D-Calif., along with James P. Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The Trucker News Services

10/19/2011

OTAY MESA, Calif. — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) today stood at the Mexican border alongside Republican and Democratic lawmakers and other vocal opponents of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cross-border trucking pilot program — citing concerns for highway safety, homeland security, and regulatory fairness for U.S.-based companies and drivers.

The bipartisan stance takes place just as the Obama administration officially begins its new cross-border pilot program by awarding full U.S. operating authority to one trucking company in Mexico while moving forward with efforts to allow others full access to U.S. highways, noted an OOIDA news release.

“This is the wrong plan at the wrong time for an abundance of reasons,” said Spencer. “It’s irresponsible and reckless. The administration should have considered attacking Mexico’s tariffs, not just surrendering to them.”

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“People in Washington are constantly talking about two things these days — creating good jobs for Americans and cutting wasteful spending. This program does exactly the opposite for both,” Spencer said. “This program will jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of thousands of U.S.-based small-business truckers and will undermine the standard of living for the rest of the driver community.”

Every year, U.S. truckers are burdened with new safety, security and environmental regulations. Those regulations come with considerable compliance costs. Mexico-domiciled trucking companies do not contend with a similar regulatory regime or with the corresponding compliance costs.

The majority of trucking companies based in the United States are small businesses, OOIDA noted in its release, adding that “As many as 93 percent of all motor carriers have fewer than 20 trucks in their fleets, and 78 percent of motor carriers have fleets of six or fewer trucks.

“Owner-operator fleets averaging slightly more than one truck represent nearly half the total number of heavy-duty commercial trucks operated in the United States.”

These companies and drivers must contend “with ever-increasing safety, homeland security and environmental regulations that dramatically affect their costs of operation as well as their ability to make a living at their chosen profession.”

“The onus is on Mexico to raise the safety, security and environmental standards for their trucking industry,” said Spencer. “We should not allow ourselves to be harassed or blackmailed into lowering ours.

“Succumbing to Mexico’s bullying provides a handy attack plan for them and other governments in future trade disputes.

He said, “The administration needs to stop placating Mexico’s government and start fighting for the Americans they are supposed to represent. If they follow through with this, the administration will be jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of Americans.”

“U.S. taxpayers have already seen too much of their money wasted as our government has attempted to accommodate trucking companies from Mexico. Yet Mexico has done nothing to raise their trucking industry’s standards or address safety and security issues associated with their trucks crossing into the United States,” said Spencer.

OOIDA remains unconvinced that U.S. taxpayers will benefit from supposed efficiencies that cross-border trucking proponents suggest will accompany the new program.

OOIDA points to a report issued by the Congressional Research Service in February 2010 which stated:

“The rationale of eliminating the truck drayage segment at the border, and of NAFTA in general, is to reduce the cost of trade between the two countries, thus raising each nation’s economic welfare. However, the cost to federal taxpayers of ensuring Mexican truck safety, estimated by the U.S. DOT to be over $500 million as of March 2008 (not including money spent by other federal and state government entities for drug interdiction, homeland security or immigration enforcement), appears to be disproportionate to the amount of dollars saved thus far by U.S. importers or exporters that have been able to utilize long-haul trucking authority. . . . .

“Any accumulated savings in trucking costs enjoyed by shippers therefore should be weighed against the public cost of funding the safety inspection regime for Mexican long-haul carriers.”

“How many more taxpayer dollars should we spend on efforts that at best won’t help us and in all likelihood will actually hurt us?” Spencer asked.

OOIDA represents the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. It currently has more than 151,000 members nationwide and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, Mo., area.

The Trucker staff may be contacted to comment at editor@thetrucker.com.

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