Plan for Mexican Trucks to Access U.S. Highways Delayed

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to delay a Bush administration plan to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways. The trucks would have to be declared safe first, the lawmakers said, and Mexico would have to give U.S. truckers the same access south of the border, reports the Associated Press.

The House voted 411-3 to approve a three-year Department of Transportation pilot program that would restrict opening the border to 100 carriers based in Mexico. They would be allowed to use a maximum of 1,000 vehicles under the pilot program.

Opponents argue that allowing trucks from Mexico to come over the border would take away jobs from American truck drivers.

The Teamsters, the Sierra Club, Public Citizen and the Environmental Law Foundation sued in federal court in April to block the pilot program, citing safety and environmental concerns.

Get the whole story HERE.

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Earlier in the month, the Arizona Republic reported that Mexican trucks crossed over the border 4.5 million times last year. In Arizona, the Nogales port of entry saw 288,000 of the state's 368,000 inbound crossings.

In addition, Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, testified before the U.S. Senate two months ago that the U.S. truck safety agency is ill-equipped to regulate Mexican trucks.

She cited U.S. government reviews that show the agency inspected fewer than 2 percent of U.S. firms, that safety records on Mexican trucks were alarming and that 1 in 6 Mexican truck drivers has no logbook and 1 in 4 no valid driver's license.

Read it all HERE.