Teamsters want DOT secretary canned over Mexican truck pilot

WASHINGTON — One of the most influential labor organizations in the U.S., the Teamsters Union, is now targeting Transportation Secretary Mary Peters’ job.

The union recently launched a nationwide campaign to fire Peters for “unlawfully opening the border to unsafe trucks from Mexico.”

“It’s a disgrace that Mary Peters is still in office,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “She has broken the law and defied the will of the American people by exposing them to dangerous trucks from Mexico.”

Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail responded by saying, “It’s kind of the thing you do when the facts aren’t on your side and you keep losing in the courts.”

Hoffa said the Senate voted 75 to 23 and the House voted 411 to 3 to keep the border closed to Mexican trucks, arguably shutting down the pilot project started last year, which allowed pre-selected Mexican carriers to haul freight beyond the () mile-border restriction.

Unions and special interest groups have now set their sights on
DOT Secretary Peters’ job to stop the Mexican cross border program.

“None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico,” the bill states.

The legislation became law on Dec. 26, 2007, as part of the omnibus budget bill. “Under Peter’s direction, the Department of Transportation has refused to comply with the law,” Hoffa said.

However, the DOT reasoned that the program will continue because the bill’s language refers to funds “to establish” a program, and doesn’t apply to the program already underway.

The anti-Peters campaign includes a web site offering downloadable “Fire Mary Peters” windshield signs. In addition, posters and floor graphics were to be posted near the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C.

In addition, thousands of bumper stickers have been mailed to Teamsters and others, and radio commercials were to air on WTOP, in the Washington, D.C. area, and nationally on the left-wing Air America radio network.

The Teamsters will argue in court on Feb. 12 that Peters broke federal laws by not ensuring motorists aren’t endangered by allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. highways. The case will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, according to the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), one of the larger Mexican carriers participating in cross-border trucking program quit the pilot.

Trinity’s exit low leaves 42 trucks from 12 different Mexico-domiciled carriers operating in the U.S.

Trinity’s safety record has been questioned by OOIDA and safety groups.

— with files from Truckinginfo.com