WASHINGTON (Nov. 30, 2011) — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has sued the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), seeking to invalidate the FMCSA pilot program allowing Mexican trucks onto U.S. highways.
The FCMSA violated the National Environmental Policy Act by approving the pilot program before it even completed an environmental assessment of the program's impact, the Teamsters claimed in the Nov. 23 complaint filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Sierra Club and safety watchdog group Public Citizen joined the Teamsters in the suit.
In a press release, the Teamsters also faulted the FCMSA for waiving laws requiring trucks to meet federal safety standards and drivers to meet certain physical requirements.
“Opening the border to these dangerous, dirty trucks is an attack on highway safety, an attack on border security and an attack on our environment,” said Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa in the press statement.