Mexico Trucker Online

James Hoffa - Out of touch with reality

Under the usual mantra of maximum pay for minimal work, Teamster’s Union President Jimmy boy Hoffa came out swinging today against the Hour of Service rules published by FMCSA.

Hoffa said the Bush administration is undermining highway safety with its “last-minute regulation” that lets truckers drive longer hours.

Where’s Hoffa been the past 5 years? Last minute regulations?

“We will continue to fight this dangerous midnight rule through the courts and through Congress,” Hoffa said. “We’re currently reviewing our legal options, especially since the court threw out this regulation twice.

“Letting tired truck drivers spend even more time behind the wheel is foolish and dangerous.… I just hope this country can survive the last 61 days of the Bush administration as it goes into a frenzy of gutting public health and safety protections.”

Yep! That’s Hoffa alright! More fear mongering to the public on things he doesn’t like!

He seems to ignore the fact that the HOS rules, which I don’t particularly care for either, have contributed to a decrease in big truck accidents over the past 5 years. Nor does he bother to let people know the rules were not thrown out but were sent back to FMCSA for technical revisions.

Sorry Jimbo! Your precious Teamsters might have to work an extra hour or two a day.

Come to think of it also, Hoffa hasn’t said a word about the recent Independent Review Panels Report on the Mexican Cross Border Program. Could it be that he thinks he has bought a President who will do his bidding?

For the sake of the country and this econom, let’s hope Mr. Hoffa’s dreams are shattered.

On September 24, 2008, the USDOT Office of Inspector General issued an audit report entitled REPORT ON THE SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY OF FMCSA’S REVIEW OF CANADIAN/MEXICAN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS.

Of course OOIDA jumped on this report with an article erroneously entitled Data flawed on Mexican truck safety reg compliance A glance would make you believe that Mexican trucks are not in compliance with FMCSA safety regs and this is not the case!

Steve Sommers on America’s Trucking Network told his few listeners that this report PROVES that Mexican trucks are not in compliance and, by the way Steve, thanks for the mention of the website here. That wasn’t too hard was it! But he wanted his listeners to feel vindicated by their beliefs that Mexican trucks don’t meet US standards. Again, Steve didn’t bother to read the report. Or, maybe he did and this was his way of continuing to spread his misinformation about Mexican trucks

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The House has made it veto-proof clear: The controversial pilot program allowing big Mexican trucks to cross the U.S. border and travel into the country must end.

The Senate has yet to act, though. And Mexico and its U.S. big-business allies are ramping up their efforts to block the repeal, including a renewed warning by Mexican officials to retaliate against U.S. exports if the program is abolished.

So begins an excellent article on the Mexican Cross Border Program from a neutral perspective, in a story published at Politico.com

And the proponents should continue to fight to keep this program which is a legal obligation we have under the terms of the NAFTA agreement that we signed with Canada and Mexico.

The article points out what we’ve been saying all along, that this has nothing to do with truck safety, concern for the safety of other motorists or any of the myriad of excuses that have come from the opposition.

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Dismissing a White House veto threat, the House voted Tuesday to end a pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways.

The Bush administration stressed that the United States is obligated, under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, to open up American roads to Mexican truckers, and that terminating the year-old demonstration project would have repercussions for American trucks allowed into Mexico. Passage of the House bill, it said “would pose significant and immediate risks to U.S. interests.”

But the pilot project, which permits up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican companies access to U.S. roads, is opposed by Jimmy Hoffa and others who say it would eliminate American jobs and that Mexican trucks are subject to less stringent safety regulations. They say Mexico lacks adequate drug testing and hours-of service standards and that the program could contribute to smuggling or insurance fraud.

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New Kentworth T660's await delivery to Mexican fleets at the KW dealership in Nuevo Laredo

Today is the long anticipated vote on HR-6630 (To prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from granting authority to a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border unless expressly authorized by Congress.)

Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters were early off the line sending their propaganda spam messages, once again maligning the truth. I got mine about 9 this morning.

We need your help! Today the U.S. House of Representatives will consider H.R. 6630, a bill that would prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from allowing unsafe Mexican trucks to cross beyond the borders of the currently permitted commercial zone unless Congress authorizes it. This important piece of legislation would put a stop to the dangerous Mexican truck pilot program that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has been operating despite Congress already passing a law last year that made it illegal to do so.

I spent the morning trying to think of a manner to tell Jimmy Hoffa to F$%k Off in a manner a thug would understand.

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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator John H. Hill responds to Jimmy Hoffa

We all know the controversial Mexican Cross Border Program was extended for two more years on August 8, under Federal guidelines concerning Pilot Programs, and as we reported, Jimmy Hoffa immediately showed his no class ignorance by continuing his boring mantra about those unsafe, dangerous and illegal Mexican trucks, a notion we have continually disproved on this site.

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