Teamsters fighting cross-border trucking

PHOENIX, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Despite a legal setback, the Teamsters union isn't giving up its court fight to keep Mexican trucks from delivering freight in the United States.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused the union's request for an emergency injunction against the experimental program of cross-border trucking, The Arizona Republic reported Monday.

Teamsters President James Hoffa and his allies want to stop the U.S. government from issuing permits to Mexican freight haulers.

"Dangerous trucks should not be driving all the way from Mexico to Maine and Minnesota," says Hoffa in a prepared statement. "What is it about safety and national security that (President) George Bush doesn't understand?"

The U.S. government argues that stopping the experimental program will delay U.S. trucks from operating south of the border and unsettle a key trading partner.

Currently, nothing can happen until the inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department gives his OK and the Mexican government issues permits to U.S. trucking companies.