WASHINGTON – Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, member of the House Transportation Committee, today gave her strong endorsement to legislation that ties the approval of a proposal to give Mexican trucking companies access to our nation’s roadways to their strict adherence to safety requirements. 

A provision strongly supported by Capito during committee consideration of the legislation that requires Mexican truckers to be proficient in the English language was also included in the bill.  

The Safe American Roads Act of 2007 is in response to a U.S. Department of Transportation pilot program that could begin allowing trucks from 100 Mexican trucking companies to make direct deliveries anywhere in the United States starting as soon as July.  Currently, Mexican trucks are only allowed inside a “commercial zone” that extends 25-miles beyond our border. 

The legislation would limit the Secretary of Transportation’s authority to allow Mexican trucks on U.S. roadways and lays out a number of safety and enforcement measures, including limits on the number of driver hours and drug testing, the department would have to verify have been met before proceeding with the pilot program.

“There are serious flaws in the department’s pilot program, and this legislation addresses them,” said Rep. Capito.  “First and foremost is the safety of our roadways and the drivers on them.  Before we open our roads to hundreds and hundreds of trucks from Mexico, we need to know that the drivers are being held to the same safety requirements as U.S. truck drivers.”

Capito said she has economic concerns as well, stating she fears it would be too easy for Mexican truck drivers to make illegal point-to-point deliveries within the U.S. following completion of their direct deliveries from Mexico.

“The last thing we need to do is rush into a program that is going to flood our highways and transportation market with low-wage Mexican truck drivers that could easily drive down salaries and cost West Virginia trucking jobs,” Capito said. 

The legislation also requires the Transportation Department to comply with 22 previously enacted safety requirements that Congress passed in 2001, many of which have yet to be implemented.

After passing the House, the legislation now awaits Senate approval. 

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