FMCSA administrator to provide update on Mexico program Thursday afternoon

FMCSA Administrator John Hill will make an annoucement about the Mexico truck project Thursday afternoon.
The Trucker Staff

9/6/2007


WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said early Thursday afternoon that John Hill, the agency's administrator, would provide an update on the Mexico truck demonstration program at 4 p.m.

The demonstration program was scheduled to begin Thursday, based on a conversation between a Justice Department attorney representing the FMCSA and an attorney for the Teamsters Union.

The Justice Department attorney said an audit of the demonstration project by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation would be filed by Wednesday, allowing the project to begin Thursday.

By law, the project cannot begin until the audit is filed with the FMCSA and the FMCSA responds.

The audit had not been delivered as of mid-morning Thursday.

Meanwhile, Thursday morning the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) issued a news release saying that it was standing alongside Reps. James Oberstar, Peter Defazio, Nancy Boyda and others in asking the Senate to take immediate action against the program.

“It may be called a pilot program, but anyone who understands the full scope knows it’s a pre-ordained plan to fully open our borders, all in the name of economics and cheap labor,â€