House Panel OKs Truck Admin. Bill

The move to create a federal motor carrier administration picked up momentum Wednesday when the House Ground Transportation Subcommittee unanimously approved truck and bus safety legislation.

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The bill is scheduled to be voted on Thursday by the full House Transportation Committee. Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), the sponsor of the bill, said he will push for a vote on the House floor soon after Labor Day.

"This is the most significant improvement in motor carrier safety since the establishment of the Interstate Highway System in 1956," said Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), a cosponsor of the proposal.

Little criticism of the proposal was aired at the hearing, though several lawmakers said it does not do enough to improve the safety of Mexican trucks operating within the United States. The legislation would require the Department of Transportation to develop and implement appropriate staffing standards for federal and state motor carrier safety inspectors along the U.S-Mexican border. If states do not provide sufficient numbers of inspectors, DOT is directed to use 5% of state safety aid programs for border enforcement.

Judith Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, sent a letter to lawmakers asking the new agency be named the Motor Carrier Safety Administration.