Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO  64029
Web site: www.ooida.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Norita Taylor, norita_taylor@ooida.com  
Headquarters: (800) 444-5791

Small business truckers thankful to Senate

Pilot program to be stopped by latest legislation

(Grain Valley, MO, Sept. 11, 2007) – The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) thanked the Senate today for passing an amendment, 74-24, to cut off the funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program.

“Congress has said enough is enough,” stated Executive Vice President of OOIDA Todd Spencer. “They’re tired of the Administration’s efforts to force the pilot program on the American people. Our nation’s safety and security should never be put at risk.”

Sen. Byron Dorgan, (ND-D) and Sen. Arlen Specter, (PA-R) offered an amendment today to the Senate’s FY 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. It would cut off funds for implementing the cross-border pilot program.

In July, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a similar amendment as part of deliberations on its version of the FY2008 transportation appropriations legislation that also would remove funding for the cross-border pilot program.

The Dorgan-Specter amendment stipulates that “None of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, MO, area. The Association currently has more than 156,000 members from all 50 states and Canada.