Congressman Bruce Braley of Waterloo says having Mexican truckers making long-haul runs in the U.S. is just wrong. Braley says there are both safety and security concerns about the pilot program.
The program which was launched last week allows some trucks to be loaded in Mexico with goods bound for the U.S. — and for the Mexican truckers to drive those goods all the way rather than have American truckers take over the route over U.S. soil.
"As someone who used to have a license to drive trucks here in Iowa, I can tell you that all U.S. truck drivers who go to work for a trucking company have a drivers qualification file that has all the documentation of their abilities to drive a truck safely in this country," Braley says. "…The Mexican trucking companies that are participating in the pilot program are not held to the same standards."
Braley says if those truckers come into the U.S. and wind up injuring or killing others on the road, they will not be held to the same safety standards by which U.S. trucking companies are judged. That means U.S. trucking companies are at a competitive disadvantage, according to Braley — in more ways than one.
Braley says it’s "troubling" that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General raised the same concerns two days before the pilot program was launched. Braley, a Democrat, is a member of the House Transportation Committee.
A bill headed to the president’s desk includes a provision to halt the cross-border trucking test case.