(Grain Valley, Mo.) – When the cat’s away, the mice will play. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) curiously chose the first day Congress is out of session for one month to announce a two-year extension of the unpopular cross-border trucking pilot program. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is not surprised by the announcement and maintains the continuance of the program is in defiance to Congressional directives as well as existing laws and regulations.
“The Administration has shown time and again that when it comes to this program they are willing to run roughshod over Congress and the American public,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA Executive Vice President. “Announcing this on the first day of the recess is unfortunately par for the course with them. Sorry for the cliché, but it’s ‘Bush league’ tactics,” Spencer added.
OOIDA agrees with Congress, which has voted more than once to end the program, in its contention that the pilot program as conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) does not comply with U.S. laws and regulations with regard to safety and security.
"DOT has consistently bent over backwards to force this program on the public. They seem oblivious to the inherent safety and security risks of what they are trying to do,” Spencer said.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is a trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 161,000 members in the United States and Canada. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area.
