Transportation and Environmental Interests File Lawsuit to Block Cross-Border Trucking Program

By Evan Mix

Published on April 26, 2007

The cross-border program would allow 100 carefully screened Mexican trucking companies to operate in the U.S. American carriers would be allowed into Mexico later this year on similar terms. The program has already run into resistance from the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, which has refused to finance the program until Mexican trucking companies meet congressionally mandated safety and security standards.

The parties behind the lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as a defendant, include the Teamsters Union, Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Law Foundation, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

They claim variously that federal public notice and commentary laws were violated, that the DOT has presented the program with insufficient transparency, and that the DOT has failed to address concerns about specific provisions of the program, including regulation strategies to check driving records, controlled substance testing, insurance, equipment safety inspections, and more.

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