President Bush signed the long-awaited Highway Bill into law on Wednesday, Aug. 10, in a ceremony in Montgomery, IL, the home district of Sen. Dennis Hastert, R-IL, one of the major proponents of the bill. The signing took place at a Caterpillar Inc. plant.

Though some critics, including watchdog groups like Taxpayers for Common Sense, are urging Bush to veto the bill on the grounds that it contains too much unnecessary spending, supporters of the bill credit Bush with keeping the funding levels down.

According to CBS News, one of those supporters was Al Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council.

"There were a number of members of Congress who wanted a $400 billion Highway Bill," Hubbard said during a news conference on Wednesday. "Because of this president, it is a $286 billion Highway Bill."

Meanwhile, Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, said there are still plenty of issues in the bill that truckers need to be aware of.

For example, Spencer said the bill contains a long-overdue provision dealing with the enforcement of operating authority requirements for foreign trucks.

"It's way, way overdue because this is something that should have been incorporated into NAFTA going back over 10 years ago," Spencer said.

The provision requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to provide all state enforcement agencies with instruction and training in the enforcement of operating authority requirements for foreign drivers and foreign vehicles, including cabotage.

"It's key if we're ever going to have any enforcement of our cabotage laws in regard to point-A-to-point-B moves within the U.S.," Spencer said. "This specific language in the Highway Bill (says) that all states are going to receive training in the enforcement of this and the appropriate enforcement agencies must enforce U.S. operating authority requirements."

Spencer said it is important to note that the provision doesn't leave the option of enforcement up to the states anymore. They must do it as a condition of receiving funding from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.

Spencer said the legislation also contains a provision that addresses background check requirements for foreign hazmat drivers from both Mexico and Canada. The new law requires these drivers to undergo a background check that is comparable to U.S. standards before they are allowed to operate in the U.S.

"All in all, we think this is a pretty positive step," Spencer said. "For 10 years now we've had regulations that apply only to U.S. driver and U.S. carriers and not foreign carriers."

- By Terry Scruton, senior writer
terry_scruton@landlinemag.com