Teamsters Make Oral Arguments In Appeals Court Against Mexican Truck Program

Case Heard in U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union argued in court today that the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) pilot program to open the border to Mexican trucks must be shut down because it is dangerous and illegal.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/IBTLOGO)

General President Jim Hoffa said the DOT's claim that the Teamsters don't have standing to argue against the program is ridiculous.

The Teamsters filed the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court on March 7. The case was heard separately today with a similar lawsuit by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association against the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Judges Judith Rogers, Karen LeCraft Henderson and Brett Kavanaugh heard the arguments. 

"FMCSA continues to claim that we don't have standing because our members aren't harmed by a program that opens the border to low-paid truck drivers and dangerous, dirty trucks," Hoffa said. "That argument doesn't make sense.

"The government is flat-out wrong to say that medical standards for truck drivers are higher in Mexico than they are in the United States," Hoffa said. "U.S. commercial truck drivers have to follow all U.S. safety regulations, but FMCSA exempts Mexican drivers from some of them."

Attorneys for OOIDA argued the pilot program offers special treatment to Mexican drivers "who are not willing or able to follow all U.S. laws."

Attorneys for the Teamsters told the court that American drivers must be able to identify the colors red, yellow and green while Mexican drivers only have to be able to identify red. Color recognition has been determined by the DOT as essential to highway safety.

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