Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Filed Petition in U.S. Court of Appeals Challenging U.S. Department of Transportation Decision to Open the Border to Mexican Trucks

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC, filed a petition today on behalf of the, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (a.k.a. OOIDA) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging the September 6, 2007, decision of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Department of Transportation, to proceed with a program that would authorize up to 100 trucking companies based in Mexico to perform long-haul operations within the United States, beyond the current commercial zone at the border.   The basis of OOIDA's challenge is that FMCSA has not followed Congressional directives to implement its Mexican Truck initiatives as a pilot program and has ignored important substantive and procedural rights of professional truck drivers in this country.

An Act of Congress signed into law on May 25, 2007, prohibited FMCSA from opening the border to Mexican truck unless it first conducted a pilot program. By regulation, pilot programs must ensure that the safety measures in the project are designed to achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety otherwise required by the FMCSA.  The pilot program also requires that the FMCSA also give the public the opportunity to comment on the results of the program.  FMCSA ignored all of these requirements in implementing its Mexican truck program.  OOIDA's petition asks the Court to enjoin the agency's action and follow the proper procedures before it opens the border to Mexican trucks.

OOIDA has asked the DC Circuit to rule on its emergency motion with 14 days.  The full petition can be found at http://www.cullenlaw.com/.

/PRNewswire-USNewswire - Sept. 7/ 

THE CULLEN LAW FIRM, PLLC