The demonstrated danger of cross-border trucking

New evidence suggests that the U.S. Department of Transportation is fully aware of the dangers inherent in opening our border to unsafe Mexican trucks.

The Teamsters union has long warned that opening the border to Mexican trucks endangers America’s highway safety and threatens U.S. warehouse and trucking jobs. We’ve been making that argument during the 17 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect. The agreement calls for Mexican trucks to freely roam our interstates.

Since December 2006, we have had still another reason to fight to keep our southern border closed: the horrific drug wars that have killed 40,000 people in Mexico. But even as the Department of Transportation tried to assuage our concerns about fatigued Mexican drivers and decrepit Mexican trucks, officials have said little or nothing about the possibility of drug violence spilling over our borders.

Earlier this year, DOT announced it would start another pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to travel beyond the narrow border zone. Last month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said two Mexican carriers would soon get approval to participate in the pilot program. Full Story....