Senate bill would help U.S. carriers hurt by foreign competition

WASHINGTON (June 14, 2002, via truckinginfo.com) — A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would help truckers that are hurt by competition from foreign-owned carriers, which some fear will happen after the U.S. border is opened to Mexican trucks later this summer.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) this week introduced the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002. The bill would require the U.S. Secretary of Labor to establish a “trade adjustment assistance program” for domestic operators of motor carriers who are adversely affected by competition from any foreign owned or operated motor carrier. The bill would require this assistance program to be established no more than 180 days after passage of the bill.

“The TAA exists out of recognition that our decision on trade in Washington causes very specific groups of American workers to lose jobs,” Boxer told the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. “TAA provides those workers with the assistance they need to successfully transition to new jobs.”