Teamsters Praise House Bill Banning Unsafe Mexican Trucks

Hoffa Lauds Passage of DeFazio Bill In House Transportation Committee

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa commended the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today for approving a bill to stop the Bush administration's reckless pilot program allowing unsafe trucks from Mexico to travel freely throughout the United States.

"It's outrageous that this program has been allowed to continue despite the fact that it's endangering American lives," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "How many people must die on our highways before the Bush administration wakes up?"

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., bans the pilot program by Sept. 6. It also prohibits the transportation secretary from granting authority to any Mexican trucks beyond the commercial zone, unless specifically authorized by Congress. The bill passed unanimously by a voice vote.

"I commend Rep. DeFazio and the members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for taking a stand today to protect the lives of American drivers and their families," Hoffa said.

A federal law took effect on Dec. 26 that bans funding for the Bush administration's pilot program. But in brazen defiance of that and other laws, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) claimed it did not understand the intent of the law. FMCSA refused to shut down the pilot project that had begun shortly after Labor Day last year.

"This bill makes it as clear as day that Congress wants the border closed to dangerous trucks," Hoffa said.

The Transportation Department's inspector general reported earlier this year that FMCSA was unsure if it was inspecting all trucks from Mexico at the border.

FMCSA opened the border to a Mexican trucking company with a long history of hazardous safety violations, Trinity Industries de Mexico. Trinity's 16 trucks averaged 112 violations each -- according to FMCSA's own database -- in the year before it was admitted to the pilot program.

Mexican trucks and truck drivers are not held to the same high safety standards as their U.S. counterparts.