Free Republic

A bipartisan group of House members has called on the Department of Transportation to reverse regulatory guidance issued in June that limits the ability of supply trucks to service oil and gas fields. Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) and 60 other members of the House argued in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the guidance will harm not just the oil and gas industry, but related industries that contribute to job growth. They also argue that the guidance reversed 50 years of established practice with little warning to the industry. "Such a change significantly restricts the operations of individuals...

Tractors lumbering down country roads are as common as deer in rural Montana, but the federal government wants to place new driving regulations on farmers and ranchers. “It’s a huge deal for us,” said John Youngberg of the Montana Farm Bureau. After years of allowing state governments to waive commercial driver’s license requirements for farmers hauling crops or driving farm equipment on public roads, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is poised to do away with the exceptions. Regulators are suggesting that all wheat shipments be considered interstate, even when farmers making short hauls to local grain elevators aren’t crossing...

National Farmers Union (NFU) submitted comments to Thomas Yager of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) about a possible reinterpretation of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984, and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. The FMCSA is exploring the possibility of categorizing "implements of husbandry and other farm equipment" as commercial motor vehicles, thus requiring a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate. "Most farmers have little, if any, control or knowledge of the final destination of the commodities they produce," said NFU President Roger Johnson. "As such, it is inappropriate...

LADWIN, Mich. – A tour company based in northern Michigan has been ordered by federal transportation officials to cease operations and take its coaches out of service after six people were found traveling in the luggage compartment of bus in Ohio. The operations out-of-service order named Roger Haines and Haines Tours of Gladwin. Issued Friday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the order claims that on May 27 an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer found six of 62 passengers in a luggage area during an inspection of a bus traveling from Roscommon, Mich., to Clyde, Ohio.

The Obama Administration will end the Department of Transportation's cross border trucking program, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a staunch opponent of the project, predicted Friday. "Both President-elect Obama and Vice-President-elect Biden voted to end the program in 2007, and it is expected that the new administration will uphold the intent of Congress and shut down the program in 2009," Dorgan said in a statement. The program, which allows trucks from the United States and Mexico to drive beyond commercial border zones is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement but has garnered bi-partisan criticism from lawmakers and others on...

Have you wondered what’s happened with the NAFTA initiated Mexican Trucking Demonstration Program lately? Me Too! Unfortunately, there isn’t much new to report on this subject because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has not been updating its web site and is apparently reluctant to respond to inquiries on the subject. However, they do appear committed to implementing the program as a part of NAFTA. Here’s a basic overview of where things are and have been:

DeLaney said it should be noted there is no requirement for a demonstration program at all. "We are committed to incremental steps in demonstrating the safety of the cross-border program, but there is no requirement to have a demonstration program," she said. Dorgan's office says a demonstration program is "not needed if they are not interested in demonstrating safety to the American public."

In my twenty-plus-year career driving trucks across the 48 states, Canada and Iraq, I have seen fuel prices and taxes rise to new heights; I have seen regulations implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that tell me when to sleep and when to drive; I have seen any number of changes that affect the trucking industry, good and bad. However, I have not seen anything that will cause irreparable harm to the American trucking industry like the Mexican Truck Pilot Program. President Bush and the decision makers at the Department of Transportation (none of whom I believe has...

(TTNews.com) One hundred Mexican trucking companies will have unlimited access to U.S. roads to haul international cargo as part of a year-long pilot program, the Department of Transportation announced today In return, 100 U.S. trucking companies will be allowed to operate in Mexico but at a later date. Calling for congressional hearings, Teamsters General President Jimmy Hoffa compared the announcement to the "Dubai Ports debacle," charging President Bush is "playing a game of Russian roulette on America's highways." As WND previously reported, the Teamsters Union has strongly protested the opening up of U.S. highways to Mexican trucks, citing safety...

<p>The Bush administration will comply with a federal appeals court order and study the environmental impact Mexican trucks would have on U.S. roadways, the Transportation Department said Tuesday.</p> <p>The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped allowing Mexican trucks on American roads in response to a lawsuit filed by environmental, labor and trucking groups. The groups said the Bush administration had not determined the impact of emissions from the trucks on the environment.</p>