Teamsters Praise House Bill Banning Unsafe Mexican Trucks

Hoffa Lauds Passage of DeFazio Bill In House Transportation Committee

WASHINGTON, July 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President Jim
Hoffa commended the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today
for approving a bill to stop the Bush administration's reckless pilot program
allowing unsafe trucks from Mexico to travel freely throughout the United
States.

"It's outrageous that this program has been allowed to continue despite the
fact that it's endangering American lives," said Teamsters General President
Jim Hoffa. "How many people must die on our highways before the Bush
administration wakes up?"

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., bans the pilot program by
Sept. 6. It also prohibits the transportation secretary from granting
authority to any Mexican trucks beyond the commercial zone, unless
specifically authorized by Congress. The bill passed unanimously by a voice
vote.

"I commend Rep. DeFazio and the members of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee for taking a stand today to protect the lives of
American drivers and their families," Hoffa said.

A federal law took effect on Dec. 26 that bans funding for the Bush
administration's pilot program. But in brazen defiance of that and other laws,
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) claimed it did not
understand the intent of the law. FMCSA refused to shut down the pilot project
that had begun shortly after Labor Day last year.

"This bill makes it as clear as day that Congress wants the border closed to
dangerous trucks," Hoffa said.

The Transportation Department's inspector general reported earlier this year
that FMCSA was unsure if it was inspecting all trucks from Mexico at the
border.

FMCSA opened the border to a Mexican trucking company with a long history of
hazardous safety violations, Trinity Industries de Mexico. Trinity's 16 trucks
averaged 112 violations each -- according to FMCSA's own database -- in the
year before it was admitted to the pilot program.

Mexican trucks and truck drivers are not held to the same high safety
standards as their U.S. counterparts.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more
than 1.4 million hard-working men and women in the United States, Canada and
Puerto Rico.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Leigh Strope of International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-6911,
lstrope@teamster.org