DeFazio Predicts Congress Will Again Address Mexican Truck Issue

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said he expects Congress to weigh in on whether more Mexican trucks ought to be running longhaul in the United States now that a three-year pilot program has ended.

“Congress has told [the Department of Transportation] to put the brakes on cross-border trucking on multiple occasions and with strong bipartisan votes, and I anticipate this topic will come up again this Congress,” said DeFazio, ranking member on the House Transportation Committee.

A recent report from the DOT’s Inspector General said that with only 15 carriers in the pilot, it was impossible to draw conclusions about whether all Mexican trucks would run as safely as those in the program.

“For the last three years, Congress has been awaiting the results of the department’s so-called ‘pilot’ to test whether or not Mexican carriers pose a safety risk to our roads,” DeFazio said. “As the IG’s latest report shows, we still don’t know the answer.”