Funding for Mexican truck pilot program cut
Senate vote the latest twist in ongoing saga of Mexican trucking program
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 9/19/2007 9:17:00 AM
The controversial pilot program to allow Mexican trucks access to the U.S. beyond a border zone lasted a mere five days and let a single truck through before the Senate voted last week to cut the pilot program’s funding.
The pilot program got final approval in early September and on Sept. 8, the first truck left the border zone hauling a 20,000-pound shipment of steel to North Carolina.
But the Senate voted 74 to 24 last week to approve a proposal by Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota, prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to highways in the U.S. The House of Representatives has approved a similar measure as part of a different transportation spending bill and the two separate bills must be reconciled.
Senate members were reportedly pressured by the Teamsters union as well as safety advocates who used a major truck crash in Mexico to pressure Senators.
John Hill, director at the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, called the decision a "sad victory for the politics of fear and protectionism."
On Sept. 14, only two days after the Senate’s vote, the first U.S. truck as part of a reciprocal program, was allowed access into Mexico to deliver a load of plastic resin to Obregon, Mexico, about 270 miles from the Arizona border.
An editorial in the New York Times said, “Keeping Mexican trucks out only keeps transport costs higher, harming American businesses and consumers. It sends Mexico the message that the United States doesn’t stand by its commitments, and it reinforces suspicions that when it comes to free trade, the United States only likes it one way.”
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