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House to vote on effort to halt NAFTA-related cross-border trucking program
(Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 8--U.S. lawmakers are expected to vote today on a measure that attempts to end the controversial program allowing trucks from the United States, Mexico and Canada passage over one another's highways.
The cross-border trucking was started as a demonstration program about a year ago, but the House of Representatives voted to discontinue funding it in January. The U.S. Department of Transportation was able to continue to allow access to trucks from across borders because the language in the House bill permitted it.
Today's vote could clear up that language, but it would still face a test in the Senate and President Bush's possible veto.
The trial program started Sept. 6, 2007, and originally was to run one year. It was extended for two more years in August.
This angered trucking-safety advocates, environmentalists and organized labor -- all of which had opposed letting trucks from Mexico deliver cargo to the American heartland.
The measure, a provision of the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, also allows American trucks free passage into Mexico and Canada.
Many U.S. interests argue that trucks registered in Mexico are not equipped with the same safety features as U.S. trucks, and not all are inspected at the border. They also say Mexican drivers are not screened equally, including drug testing and safety training.
"We would have no problem with the cross-border program if carriers out of Mexico were judged with the same criteria for safety and security as those in the U.S.," said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
Trucks have been crossing the border into the United States for years, but they have been restricted to so-called "commercial zones" within 20 miles of the border. There, the loads must be transferred to American-based haulers. More than 1,000 such loads a day pass through the commercial border crossing at Otay Mesa, about seven miles east of San Diego.
Teamsters spokeswoman Leslie Miller said the union believes trucking firms with substandard safety features are allowed to hit the open road.
"The problem is, they aren't able to make sure they check every truck," Miller said.
The language of the January appropriations bill said the government cannot fund the establishment of a cross-border program. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a branch of the DOT, said the spending bill does not apply because this program was already established by NAFTA.
Rep. John Mica, of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, favors the pilot program, said Justin Harclerode, communications director for the committee's Republicans.
"Congressman Mica feels the cross-border program is required by NAFTA, so he in that regard feels DOT is conforming to that law," Harclerode said.
Both sides agree that in the first year, neither the benefits nor the risks of the pilot program are conclusive because few carriers participated. About 25 Mexican-owned trucking companies, accounting for slightly more than 100 trucks, signed up, as did 10 American companies with 52 trucks .
"It's been successful, but we'd like to see more participation," said Kristin Schrader, spokeswoman for the safety agency.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently reported second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 3.3 percent. Economists who study the Inland area said much of that gain came from exports. Advocates say cross-border trucking would help exporters by cutting shipping costs and opening new markets to U.S. producers.
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Copyright (c) 2008, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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