Teamsters highlight contradictions in Mexican trucks case

The Teamsters have apparently caught the Obama Transportation Department in several contradictions in the two sides' continuing fight over the agency's pilot program to let selected Mexican trucks roll on all U.S. roads.

For example, the union's legal brief filed with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C., says the agency admits the pilot program will produce between 2,800 and 4,100 inspections every year of the Mexican trucks, and it admits those trucks also do not meet U.S. environmental rules.

Yet at the same time, the government argues that the extra pollution from the Mexican trucks will have no impact on U.S. pollution - or U.S. truck drivers who, more than other drivers, are exposed to hazardous fumes on the roads.

The brief, filed last month, is part of the union's long battle with the government over letting trucks from selected Mexican companies roll on all U.S. roads. NAFTA, the controversial U.S.-Mexico-Canada "free trade" treaty, said any Mexican truck could roam anywhere in the U.S.  Full Story........