Topeka ? Backed by American truckers, U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., said Monday she hoped to stop a plan that would allow Mexican truckers to drive in the United States.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Boyda said of a pilot project by the U.S. Department of Transportation that will permit long-haul, cross-border trucking operations.

Boyda has introduced legislation that would halt the project until more information is gathered.

At a news conference, Richard Oates, a 39-year trucker from Topeka, said he was concerned that drivers from Mexico are ill-trained and their rigs are hazardous.

“My main concern is safety,” Oates said.

Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association, said the plan was a threat to national security.

“To be straight up, in terms of safety and security, this is less than a crapshoot,” Spencer said.

He said background checks of drivers in Mexico have no validity.

“Mexico is a Third World country,” he said.

But some large business interests, including the American Trucking Associations Inc., which is headed by former Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, support the pilot project.

ATA says the project will make trade with Mexico more efficient. Mexican trucking companies are now allowed only 25 miles into the United States before they must transfer their loads to trucks operated by U.S. drivers.

Boyda, whose district includes western Lawrence, said she was concerned the plan would invite illegal immigration and smuggling, and could lead to low-paid Mexican drivers taking the work of American truckers.