Thread: Bush's Mexico-Domiciled Truck Program Flunks Safety Test

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Bush's Mexico-Domiciled Truck Program Flunks Safety Test

U.S. DOT Flunks Safety Test as "Report Card" Spotlights Failing Grades; New Opinion Poll Shows Majority View Administration Plan as Dangerous
By: Public Citizen
Published: Jun 20, 2007 at 08:32


Organizations representing highway and truck safety groups, labor, and independent truck drivers joined members of Congress today to criticize the Bush administration for ignoring federal safety laws concerning the implementation of a pilot program allowing trucks from Mexico to travel throughout the United States.

The groups - including Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Public Citizen and the Truck Safety Coalition - released an analysis of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) program showing the agency failing to comply with federal law. They also released a recent opinion poll revealing the public's opposition to the plan.

In February, the administration announced plans to conduct a "pilot program" allowing up to 1,000 Mexico-domiciled trucks to travel beyond the current border zones. In 2001, Congress had passed legislation that put a premium on upgrading inspection facilities, computer databases and other safety-related requirements before opening the southern border for long-haul trucks. The Bush administration has still not finished implementing the safety requirements in that law, but decided this year to rush ahead with the pilot program in an attempt to open the border.

Hearings in the U.S. House and Senate, featuring testimony from Advocates and Public Citizen, identified serious safety problems with the program. On May 24, Congress approved provisions in a supplemental Iraq War funding bill to ensure that any pilot program to allow Mexico-domiciled trucks full access to the nation's highways would not circumvent safety standards or congressional oversight. The provisions ordered the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is responsible for implementing the administration's cross-border pilot program, to obey a number of requirements that the agency is still ignoring.

These provisions, signed into law by the president, require: the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to follow all applicable rules and regulations concerning the formulation of pilot programs and cross-border trucking; Mexico-based trucking companies and trucks to comply with all applicable U.S. laws; and the administration to ensure that the operation of these trucks within the United States would not have a negative impact on safety.

The groups today accused the administration of brazenly pressing forward without meeting many of the safety provisions directed by Congress. Less than three weeks after the legislation was signed into law, FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register on June 8 that in effect declared that the agency had met all of the congressionally mandated safety requirements to open the southern border.

The report released today, however, identified every provision of law that FMCSA has failed to comply with, including: failure to provide sufficient opportunity for public notice and comments; failure to provide the public with information about the pilot project; failure to comply with the requirements of §350 of the FY2002 DOT Appropriations Act on the safety of cross-border trucking; failure to comply with requirements of the pilot program law to test innovative approaches and alternative regulations under 49 USC §31315(c); failure of FMCSA to keep its promise to check every truck every time for compliance; and failure to establish criteria that are subject to monitoring during the pilot program.

"The Bush administration and the DOT have failed in all respects to meet congressional requirements to put safety first before forcing open the border to potentially dangerous long-haul trucks," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen and chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH). "The agency needs to obey the law and tell Congress how it plans to follow its requirements. The DOT should not implement any cross-border trucking pilot program until it can make the grade. In persisting with its current program, FMCSA is disregarding the will of Congress and the safety of the American people."

A new poll released by the groups today and conducted by the nonpartisan Lake Research Partners found that a majority of Americans (56 percent) believe the Bush administration's plan to allow Mexico-domiciled trucks to travel outside the current commercial zone and throughout the United States is dangerous. Majority agreement that this is dangerous for U.S. drivers transcends gender, age, political identification and region. Notably, self-identified independents (60 percent) are most likely to agree that the Bush proposal is dangerous, though majorities of Democrats (54 percent) and Republicans (58 percent) concur.

"The American public has good reason to be concerned." stated Jackie Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates). "DOT has made it crystal clear that it intends to force open the U.S.-Mexico border despite all contrary evidence, despite the opposition of the American people and in open defiance of safety laws required by Congress."

Bipartisan legislation included in Section 6901 of the Iraq War supplemental appropriations bill directs the DOT Office of Inspector General to report to Congress on whether or not the federal government is in full compliance with the truck safety law enacted in 2001. Unfortunately, the DOT continues to select parts of that law it wants to obey and those it chooses to ignore. These include provisions prohibiting cross-border trucking to occur unless the U.S. and Mexico have reached an agreement on hazardous materials, unless there are adequate inspection facilities available for passenger buses and unless there are cures for deficiencies in data systems used to monitor driving violations and convictions of Mexico-domiciled commercial operators.

Todd Spencer, a former truck driver and executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), stated, "The administration is simply thumbing its nose at the safety and security concerns that have been raised by Congress and the American people."

Safety groups and truck drivers called on the administration to comply with federal laws and provide the public with crucial information about the program that will affect safety. Advocates filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents relating to the pilot program, but the agency continues to stonewall and refuses to release information detailing the origins of the pilot program, leaving the public unable to adequately evaluate it.

"This pilot program is a defiant and shameless attempt to ram through a major change in public safety policy regardless of the consequences," said Gillan. "This is a dangerous policy that will ultimately threaten the lives of every motorist who travels our neighborhood streets and highways."

The FMCSA Pilot Program "report card," the Advocates report on "Opening the Border - Shutting Out Safety," and a summary of the Lake Research Partners' public opinion poll on trucks from Mexico driving throughout the U.S. can be found at http://www.saferoads.org and http://www.citizen.org.

Statement of Joan Claybrook, President, Public Citizen*

Bush Administration Receives Failing Grades on Compliance With Congressional Safety Mandates for Mexico-Domiciled Trucks

On May 24, Congress approved provisions in a supplemental Iraq funding bill to ensure that any pilot program to allow Mexico-domiciled trucks full access to the nation's highways would not circumvent U.S. safety standards or congressional oversight. These provisions, signed into law by the president, require the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to assure compliance with all applicable rules and regulations concerning the formulation of pilot programs and cross-border trucking. They require Mexico-based trucking companies and trucks to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and safety standards. And finally, they require the administration to ensure that the operation of these trucks in the United States would not have a negative impact on safety.

Congress had passed legislation in 2001 that put a premium on safety before opening the southern border for long-haul trucks. But in 2007, the Bush administration decided to ignore the law and rush through its demonstration project. Congress felt compelled last month to pass a new law to ensure that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is responsible for implementing the administration's cross-border pilot program, would obey the law. In the Iraq War supplemental bill, Congress mandated a number of requirements that the agency is still flagrantly ignoring.

In fact, the administration brazenly pushed forward without meeting many of the provisions, publishing a notice in the Federal Register on June 8 about its pilot program. It essentially declared that it had met all of the congressionally mandated safety requirements to open the southern border. But the report we release today identifies every provision of the law that FMCSA is not complying with. We've graded FMCSA on its compliance, and in nearly every category, the agency fails. In persisting with its current program, FMCSA is disregarding the will of Congress and the safety of the American people.

For example, FMCSA has not provided sufficient opportunity for public notice and comment on its pilot program. It is allowing only 20 days notice - ten days less than the standard - prior to requiring submission of public comment.

The agency has also not provided the public with sufficient information about the program. DOT Secretary Peters even initially denied the existence of a pilot program, and FMCSA has refused since October 2006 to provide records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety or respond more recently to a similar congressional request.

The agency has not complied with the requirements found in section 350 of the Fiscal Year 2002 DOT Appropriations Act on the Safety of Cross-Border Trucking. These deal with important safety issues, such as bus inspection facilities, a comprehensive database of driver violations while operating in the U.S. and hazardous materials transportation.

FMCSA has failed to show how the demonstration project meets most elements required for pilot programs. Specifically, it has shown no plans for scientifically rigorous data collection and analysis, no method for safety comparison and no assurance of statistically valid findings. The agency has not published any oversight plan to ensure the safety of either the public or project participants, and has shown no intent to file a report about the project with Congress - all specific statutory requirements.

The agency has also failed to keep its promise to inspect "every truck-every time." FMCSA explains that participating trucks will not be inspected every time they cross the border. It will instead check the driver's license and determine whether the truck has a valid 90-day inspection sticker. The DOT Inspector General has questioned whether even this superficial 15-second check will take place for "every truck, every time."

FMCSA has provided only limited information on topics about the demonstration project that the public needs in order to assess its safety. Its June 8 Federal Register notice provides no new details about safety audits or specific public health and safety measures. It barely addresses English proficiency compliance for drivers, specific standards to evaluate the pilot program and a list of or the basis for Mexican regulations that will be accepted by U.S. authorities as equivalent to U.S. regulations, even though they are not. Instead, the agency mostly provides assertions with little detail and few facts to support them.

Finally, the agency has failed to establish criteria that are subject to monitoring during the pilot program, such as mechanisms to determine whether there will be an adverse effect on safety, monitoring and enforcement to ensure compliance by participants and the use of a representative sample of Mexican-domiciled motor carriers.

Congress has very specifically required FMCSA to provide all of these answers. But the agency and the Bush administration are deliberately, knowingly and willingly violating the law. This lawlessness must not be allowed to continue. It is clear that FMCSA intends to justify the outcome of the pilot program regardless of any contrary evidence and ram through a major change in public safety policy regardless of the consequences.

The public deserves to know the details about a project that could kill or injure families driving on our highways throughout the country. Already more than 5,000 people are killed and an additional 112,000 are injured in truck crashes each year. The public deserves an honest, forthright government that obeys the law itself and enforces the law. FMCSA should not implement any cross-border trucking demonstration program until it can make the grade.

* Joan Claybrook was administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 1977-1981.
------------------------------
another article in The Trucker:

http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/ ... cking.aspx

Teamsters say Bush administration defying Congress over Mexico trucking

WASHINGTON (June 20) — Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa criticized the Bush administration today for what a Teamsters news release characterized as “plannning to defy Congress and the American people by rushing ahead with its reckless cross-border pilot program.â€

Americans and safety before bush's north american union.

This is a letter that I am getting ready to send to all the House members. When I talked to Congressman Goode's office last week, I was told that an effort to delay the trucks to come across the border that was in the Iraq Funding Bill was slipped out at the last minute before Bush got it for signing. However, there is a bill stalled in Committee that would halt this whole thing. I was told that the House could pass this Resolution if they had more support from the public. I'm going to do what I can by sending this letter.


Dear Congressman:

Our government has an obligation to keep the American citizens safe and prosperous in this country. Allowing the President to proceed with this irresponsible Nafta Super Highway System that allows thousands of Mexican trucks to invade our highways, is not only unnecessarily putting our citizens at risks, but it opens the door for the smuggling of more illegal immigrants and drugs, and possibly weapons of mass destruction; not to mention the decrease in jobs for American truck drivers.
This President has no right to meet in secret and enter into a deal such as this without first consulting the American people. Analogous to Mr. Bush pushing for amnesty for all the illegal immigrants in this country against the will of the American people, this is yet another example of our President’s arrogance in his refusal to allow anyone but himself to run this government. This is not how our democratic process was designed to work.
H.CON.RES.40 would stop the Mexican trucks from coming across our borders until this Nafta Super Highway System could be investigated more closely, giving the American people a chance to have a voice in this matter. Allowing this bill to remain stalled in committee is the same as saying Congress approves of this one-man government, and not of a government that is for the people and by the people.
Bring H.CON.RES.40 back to floor and get it passed and do the right thing for the people of the United States of America.

I thought they had a 3 year moritoium on this, what the heck happen?
We can not allows those trucks to come into our country no tell what will be in them



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SOSADFORUS, this Nafta Super Highway System is moving ahead and Bush plans for it to start on July 15. That's why I'm taking a little time each day to write to as many House members as I can to try to help stop this. I'm going to find out what Committe members are holding this up and write to them first. I think it's stuck in the Committee for Foreign Affairs.

Even Bill Clinton refused to allow the Mexican trucks into the U.S. as per the terms of NAFTA. He realized the lack of safety standards would put Americans at risk on the highways. And that was 15 years ago! NOTHING has changed in the past 15 years as far as improved regulatory standards by Mexico! Most of the Mexican trucks were manufactured before 1984 and I'm sure they are all falling apart. Add that to the drunk drivers from Mexico, and it's a recipe for disaster!

Someone needs to grab the reins out of Bush's hands and declare him mentally unfit to run this country! He cares NOTHING about the lives of Americans or the danger he is wreaking upon this country! Nothing! Nada! In my wildest nightmares I couldn't envision any POTUS turning on America and Americans...opening the borders...allowing 20-30 Mestizos to invade our nation...and inviting murder on our highways! Senor Bush is dangerous to our health, welfare, and future as Americans. He a mad, mad dictator who needs to be locked up in an asylum!!!

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

SOSADFORUS, this Nafta Super Highway System is moving ahead and Bush plans for it to start on July 15. That's why I'm taking a little time each day to write to as many House members as I can to try to help stop this. I'm going to find out what Committe members are holding this up and write to them first. I think it's stuck in the Committee for Foreign Affairs.

I will write our Rep, my gawd they are pileing so much on us at one time, but this has to be stopped, this is such bad new for the U.S. I'm telling you Bush should be bodly hauled out of the white house the man is going to destory us before we can get rid of him, I don't know if we can take another 1 1/2 years!! Keep me informed I am so busy. Your article came out in todays paper or yesterdays, my daughter was going to get me a copy of it!!

You should post it on a it's own thread , Idaho, Letter to Editor, Just remove your name and put your name from here

Hoffa Blasts Bush for Plans to Open Mexican Border





Cross-Border Truck Plan Defies Congress, Common Sense

Contact:
Leigh Strope
or
Leslie Miller
(202) 624-6911
June 20, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) – Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa lambasted the Bush administration today for planning to defy Congress and the American people by rushing ahead with its reckless cross-border pilot program.

Hoffa spoke at a news conference on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and truck safety advocates. They issued a study showing how the Bush administration is dodging truck safety requirements in its zeal to open the border to unsafe Mexican trucks.

“George Bush is trying to do as much damage to this country as he can before he leaves office,â€

tinybobidaho,

Used you letter and sent to my Rep. Thanks for posting.

Your welcome, Shocked. Glad you could use it.

Sosadforus, I didn't think they were going to print my letter. I kept looking for it on the internet, but they are so slow posting. I put a longer version on here about a week ago. I'll post the shorter one here in a little bit. I'm so glad they posted it in the newspaper. Now it's your turn.