March 11, 2008  

(Washington, D.C.) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today that Americans should be frightened by the Bush administration’s low regard for safety as it opens the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico.

For example, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) chief John Hill told reporters today that a Mexican trucking company with a horrendous safety record didn’t have a history of serious violations before it was accepted into the pilot program. Hill spoke after his boss, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on why she chose to ignore Congress and keep the program going.

According to the FMCSA’s own data, Trinity Industries de Mexico had 75 out-of-service orders and should have had another 476, according to its own standards, in the year preceding September 21, 2007. According to federal law, a truck or vehicle is placed out of service when an “imminent hazard” is present. Trinity is no longer in the pilot program.

“Trinity Industries had a horrible safety record and never should have been in the pilot program in the first place,” Hoffa said. “I’m amazed that Peters is still defending the program after such an egregious lapse in safety. It’s frightening.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Peters continued to insist that the pilot program is lawful, though Congress passed a law cutting off funds for it. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., told her that Congress’s intent to end the program was clear.

“There is an arrogance here,” Dorgan told Peters. “There will be consequences.”

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said, “The secretary and her legal counsel will not have the last word. Congress will have the last word.”  

A revelation arising from the hearing was the low standard for determining that a driver is proficient in English, a requirement for driving in the U.S.

Inspector General Calvin Scovell testified that a memorandum had been issued by the Transportation Department stating that if a driver could accurately describe the meaning of four road signs in any language understood by the inspector, then he would be considered proficient in English.

“It’s absolutely absurd that a truck driver doesn’t have to respond to questions in English in order to be determined to be proficient in English,” Hoffa said.

“Sen. Dorgan told Mary Peters that her arrogant behavior would have consequences, and I hope he’s right,” Hoffa said. “Under our Constitution, only Congress can decide how the government spends money, and I hope Mary Peters understands that some day.”

Peters also stated that the trucks in the pilot program were safer than American trucks, but the inspector general pointed out that there are too few participants in the pilot program to make statistically valid findings.

Scovell also said the FMCSA had no way of knowing whether every truck was checked every time it crossed the border.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.