UPDATE – VICTORY IN HOUSE COMMITTEE!

URGENT ACTION STILL NEEDED TO SUPPORT H.R. 1773 AND STOP UNSAFE MEXICO-DOMICILED TRUCKS FROM DRIVING IN THE U.S.

TRUCK SAFETY COALITION FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT

May 2007

UPDATE AND ACTION NEEDED: On May 2, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved HR 1773, the Safe American Roads Act of 2007. It is likely that the next step is for the entire House of Representatives to vote on the bill as early as the middle of next week. The Truck Safety Coalition thanks you tremendously for all the calls, emails and faxes you sent. We now need you to contact your Representative and urge him/her to vote for HR 1773. If you don’t know who your Member is or if you need contact information, visit www.house.gov. There is a place you can enter your zip code to locate your Member and contact information.

BACKGROUND: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed a plan to open the southern border with Mexico in the next few weeks to allow a select group of 100 Mexican motor carriers involving thousands of trucks to drive throughout the U.S. as part of a so-called “pilot” or “demonstration program” in the next few weeks. H.R. 1773 requires the DOT and FMCSA to comply with existing federal law concerning how pilot programs are to be conducted by the agency. Passage of HR 1773, a bi-partisan bill, is important because it includes specific provisions that address safety problems at the border and will require the federal government to obtain public comments about how the pilot program is implemented. The bill was amended in Committee and it now allows the pilot program for Mexico-domiciled trucks to drive in the U.S. to be conducted for up to three years, which will allow adequate data collection to yield statistically valid findings. The amended bill is not available on line at this point but should be available soon at www.thomas.loc.gov.

TALKING POINTS:

• HR 1773 Needs to be Enacted Now. Bi-partisan legislation is needed to ensure that the pilot program does not compromise public safety and that safety requirements are met prior to allowing Mexico-domiciled trucks to roam throughout the United States .

• Driver Violations: Drivers from Mexico that have been stopped on U.S. highways have high out of service (OOS) rates for operating without a drivers license, for not having a legal license to operate the vehicle they were driving, and for not having hours of service (HOS) logbooks and records of duty status (RODS) as required under U.S. law.
• Vehicle Violations: Vehicles that have been stopped on U.S. highway have high rates of poorly adjusted brakes and inoperable lamps.
• Drug/Alcohol Testing: Mexico does not require workplace drug and alcohol testing of truck drivers as under U.S. law –
  • There are no certified drug/alcohol testing laboratories in Mexico ;
  • Samples collected in Mexico have to be sent to a U.S. lab for analysis;
  • The DOT Inspector General cannot verify that drug/alcohol sample collection procedures in Mexico meet U.S. standards for quality, purity and security;
  • Samples collected at the U.S. border may not prove more reliable because drivers know when the sample will be taken which defeats the purpose of random testing and does not address U.S. requirements for pre-employment and reasonable suspicion testing.
• Hours of Service: In addition to not maintaining HOS records, Mexico has no enforced HOS requirements so drivers can operate for an unlimited number of hours within Mexico and arrive at the U.S. border fatigued and continue to drive for up to 11 hours inside the U.S. FMCSA admits that it cannot penalize a driver for actions that occurred in Mexico if they have a logbook and other required records.
• Operating Authority Enforcement: Half of the U.S. States either have not enforced the laws against vehicles that lack operating authority or have problems obtaining the information needed to confirm if a vehicle lacks operating authority.
• Data Quality: States are required to supply data on violations and convictions of Mexican drivers in the U.S. to a federal database. There have been serious problems with reporting these violations and convictions in each border State. About one-quarter (25%) of the requests for information on Mexican drivers indicate that the driver has a violation or conviction.
• Vehicles Not Built to U.S. Standards: Federal law requires that vehicles operated in the U.S. must meet the federal motor vehicle safety standards. Until 1996, most trucks and buses built in Mexico were not built to U.S. standards. Since then, an unknown number of trucks have not included safety equipment required by U.S. standards, such as antilock braking systems. Unless the vehicle has a certification label border inspectors will not be able to determine whether a truck or bus entering the U.S. is as safe as vehicles built to the U.S. safety standards.

Robert Durk wrote on April 30, 2007 7:28 AM:"I don't think that anyone can blame all drivers, that's ridiculous as semi drivers are undeniably the backbone of America. What we are saying is there are many unsafe drivers that shouldn't be driving a car let alone driving an 80-ton tractor trailer, putting many lifes at risk. It just seems there should be a higher standard of the people we hire and a higher standered in saftey its not how fast the goods get there its how many people died getting it there. The industry is a proud industry and it should be...it's the 15 to 20% that make the highways unsafe for the the truckers and motorists alike, not to mention a few bad apples make the whole bunch smell bad so it's in everyone's best intrest to keep the rag-bag truckers off the road so please be safe out there as you are the profesional driver and should be able to react even if you are not in the wrong ..... That's your job and your resposability. www.justiceforjanelle.com"

Whitney has a history of driving-related offenses, having been arrested or cited for traffic-related offenses at least 11 times between 1976 and 1984.

In three separate cases filed in the spring of 1980, Whitney was charged with reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while intoxicated. All three charges were later dis- missed.

In 1983, he was arrested for driving while suspended. That charge was also dismissed.

Also dismissed was a reckless driving count filed against Whitney in May 1984.

In December 1984, Whitney pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a $50 fine. Authorities said Whitney drove away after causing a two-car collision on Macedonia Avenue.

Whitney later told authorities he had fled because he was driving with a suspended license.

In 1987, Whitney was arrested for driving while suspended. He pleaded guilty and received a 1-year suspended sentence and a $100 fine.