Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
National Headquarters: 1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO 64029
Tel: (816) 229-5791 Fax: (816) 427-4468
Washington Office: 122 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
Tel: (202) 347-2007 Fax: (202) 347-2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Norita Taylor
March 29, 2007
norita_taylor@ooida.com
(800-444-5791)
“No Go” for Mexico in NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007
(March 29, 2007, Washington, DC) – Small business professional truckers across America enthusiastically commend U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-CA, for introducing the “NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007.”
OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer stated, “This legislation will go a long way to assure foreign trucks operating on U.S. soil do not represent a threat to highway safety or to our homeland security. It will also ensure our nation will be in a position to enforce its laws on foreign trucks while they are here.”
“The only assurances given thus far about DOT’s Mexican trucking pilot program have been ‘trust us – everything’s gonna be alright.’ The nation’s safety and security demand far more than that.”
The bill, proposed by Hunter, requires Mexico-domiciled trucks, trucking companies and drivers to be held to the same standards as their American counterparts. It would give U.S. officials the same capability to enforce laws applying to Mexican truck drivers as they have for enforcing laws that apply to U.S. drivers.
Hunter’s bill also would require that the DOT be able to prove databases exist on Mexican drivers that are equivalent in quality and reliability as those on U.S. drivers. The legislation would require that enforcement personnel have equal access to such databases, ensuring all truck drivers on our highways are who they say they are, and are equally qualified to be there.
Another issue is the enforcement of immigration and customs laws. Once a Mexico-domiciled truck passes through the U.S. border with a permissible NAFTA shipment, there is currently no plan in place to monitor what that driver does once inside the United States.
“The establishment of this legislation is the only way the DOT’s program should be allowed to go forward,” Spencer added. “Otherwise, we should all think about staying off the highways.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the national trade association representing the interests of small business trucking professionals. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, MO, area. The Association currently has more than 150,000 members from all 50 states and Canada.