Dorgan Blasts DOT Over Cross-Border Trucking
One of the most vocal congressional critics of a plan to grant Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways as part of a yearlong pilot project blasted the Department of Transportation in a letter, accusing DOT of ignoring Congressional intent in continuing the test.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that DOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration were misinterpreting language included in a massive spending bill passed late last year by continuing the program.
“The provision included in the omnibus spending bill was clearly written and designed to put the brakes on the current pilot program,” Dorgan said in a letter.
The omnibus spending bill, signed by President Bush on Dec. 26, contained a Dorgan-sponsored amendment that barred FMCSA from spending any money “to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program.”
FMCSA said that the current pilot program should not be affected by the new legislation, since it began in September.
“In accordance with the 2008 omnibus appropriations act, the U.S. Department of Transportation will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico,” FMCSA said in a statement.
