Battle lines are being drawn in the midst of a controversial plan by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to purchase Electronic On-Board Recorders for Mexican truck carriers. As you might know by now, the pilot program, a byproduct of NAFTA, means the feds will buy EOBRs for Mexican truckers who cross the border onto U.S. roadways.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio is among those not so enthusiastic about the idea. The Oregon Democrat is particularly peeved that the FMCSA plans to shell out funds from its operating expenses — which stems from the Highway Trust Fund — to outfit the foreign carriers.
“It is outrageous that U.S. truckers, through the fuel tax, will subsidize the cost of doing business for these Mexican carriers,” DeFazio wrote in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
But FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro defends the pilot program as the only way to ensure that the carriers from Mexico are properly following U.S. safety regulations. She told trucking executives earlier this week that there’s some precedent for the move, noting that the Bush Administration had bought GPS systems for the Mexican carriers.
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