Future of bill blocking truck program still up for grabs

Although a bill blocking the Transportation Department's cross-border trucking program sailed through the House last week, its future is still uncertain.

The bill would prohibit the Transportation Secretary from allowing any future pilot programs that allow Mexican-based commercial semi-trucks to operate in the United States beyond the 20-mile wide "commercial zone" along the Southwest border. It passed the House 395-18.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator John Hill have argued the current pilot program can run for up to three years, and a ban on using federal funds for the program, part of the fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, only applies to future pilot programs.

Peters and Hill have said the program needs more time to encourage more participation, and after the bill was unanimously approved in committee on July 31, Transportation announced four days later -- after Congress had begun its summer recess -- that the program would be carried out for another two years.

Although House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee spokesman Jim Berard said the move was not surprising, it drew the ire of Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn.

"The Secretary of Transportation continues to flout the will of Congress," Oberstar said. Many members oppose the program due to safety concerns, including Mexico's less stringent requirements for driver hours of service, training and licensing.

Including it in a continuing resolution might be the best option, as there is no companion bill in the Senate, and the Senate Commerce Committee has not scheduled any hearings on the issue.

But a spokesman for Senate Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chaired Senate hearings about the program in 2007, said he was not aware of any plans to include any language in a continuing resolution.

A spokesman for the American Trucking Association said that while the organization is supportive of free trade and the program, it has not taken a position on the bill and is not lobbying against it.

Before the full House vote, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to House members warning them that a vote for the bill could "greatly undermine the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and service providers in the second largest U.S. export market." The letter also said the United States is obligated under the North American Free Trade Agreement to open its border to Mexican trucks.