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Sep 09
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.
This is the same old song and dance Hoffa has used to blow smoke up the publics ass since 1992. The lies and misalignment of the truth remain the same, only the talking points change to suit the audience.
100 or 1000 Mexican trucks would have no effect on American jobs nor the economic wellbeing of American carriers.
They use the tired old lie that Mexican trucks are subject to less stringent safety standards, yet rules in effect for the pilot program and the regulations that Mexican carriers operate under in their own country suggest otherwise.
The insinuation that Mexico lacks adequate drug testing is patently false. How many ways can you make a person take a piss in a cup? How many ways are there to test urine for illegal substances? And they seem to forget that Canada’s drug testing policy only requires testing for cause, whereas the US and Mexico requires it pre employment, for cause and random. They also seem to conveniently ignore the fact that Mexican drivers participating in the Cross Border Program were all tested in US laboratories on the US side of the border. This is all documented in the PASA of each individual company participating.
But it is Jimmy Hoffa’s party tonight and the wires are picking up his press release where he further pushes his lies upon the unsuspecting American public. Confident that he is that his endorsement of Obama is going to carry weight in November.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa commended the 395 members of Congress who voted today to close the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico.
“We know the Bush administration can’t guarantee that trucks and drivers from Mexico are safe,” Hoffa said. “We know there aren’t any certified drug testing labs in Mexico. We know the database for Mexican driver traffic violations is inadequate. We know Mexico doesn’t enforce hours-of-service violations.”
Despite the bipartisan opposition to opening the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico, the Transportation Department said it will extend the program for another two years.
The Transportation Department has shown it is incapable of reviewing the safety records of Mexican carriers that want to participate in the pilot program. The agency approved Trinity Enterprises as a participant, though its own database indicated the company had more than 1,200 safety violations, or about 100 per truck.
Same shit, different day! Dangerous trucks, dangerous trucks, even though they have completed a year with no accidents and no serious safety violations.
“We Know”! No “We” don’t know! Hoffa thinks he knows! But the facts show that
- The US government can’t guarantee that US or Canadian trucks are safe either. And Safersys stats show that Mexican carriers, both the Cross Border participants and Mexican drayage trucks have a much lower incidents of Out of Service orders than US or Canadian trucks.
- There never will be US “Certified” Drug testing labs in Mexico just as there are no US “Certified” drug testing labs in Canada. But Mexico does have drug testing on par with the US, Canada does not.
- The Mexican drivers database is inadeqaute for who? Jimmy Hoffa? Todd Spencer? Seems to be adequate for USDOT and FMCSA enforcement purposes. More smoke and mirrors from James P Hoffa.
- Mexico doesn’t enforce HOS rules? Mexico’s HOS rules specify a driver can drive no more than 8 hours a day. Canada allows 16 hours of being on duty, the US, 11 driving out of a total of 14 per 24. Mexican drivers are allowed to rest when they are tired and work when they are rested, unlike the US driver who is forced to work an 11 hour shift since the 14 hour clock cannot be stopped once started.
- Hoffa claims FMCSA is incapable of reviewing safety records of companies applying for the program. This is another patently false assertion. He uses Trinity industry SA de CV as an example, falsely claiming 1100 violations or approximately 100 violation per truck. There are two very important facts they purposely overlook.
- TRINITY INDUSTRIES SA de CV is the Mexican subsidiary of TRINITY INDUSTRIES of Dallas Texas.
- The violations discovered were mostly on US plated trailers being pulled across the border to be given to Trinity Industries US fleet for delivery in the US! These were US trailers, not MEXICAN trailers as Hoffa and Todd Spencer would have you believe.
Where do we go from here
They would have you believe at this point that the program is dead and is going away, but that is simply not the case.
The HR6630 goes to the Senate now to be reconciled in committee with Byron Dorgan’s similar bill. Then it will be voted on by the entire Senate. The Senate is not know for speed.
Three weeks from now, Congress adjourns for electioneering. They return after the November elections for a couple of weeks before adjourning for Thanksgiving. In December, they reconvene for a couple of weeks before adjourning for the holidays, to return in January to a new administration and hopefully, new faces on both sides of the Congress.
If George Bush or whoever is in the White House vetoes the bill, it goes back to Congress for an override vote. Again, a new Congress, but who can say.
Then the lawsuits begin which can delay implementation of the law for months or years. Long after the program ends.
Or, and this is the direction I am pushing for with letters, calls and emails to the White House. President Bush can stop the program and based on the success of the past year, issue an Executive Order rescinding the 1982 Moratorium on Foreign Trucks and allowing Mexican trucks equal access to US highways. They have proven they can operate safely and within our rules and laws.
Winners and Losers
There are no winners! The losers are the American consumer who can benefit from lower transportation costs. Not cheaper freight, but not having the need to cross dock a load or pay for drayage cross border will save on transportation costs.
The 10 US companies who have rights to operate in Mexico. The actions of Congress at the behest of James P Hoffa will cost these companies money and possibly put American drivers in the unemployment line.
This Bill will not remove Mexican trucks from US Highways
Think you’ve seen the last of Mexican trucks and drivers on US highways? Think again.
Under FMCSA regulations, any Mexican carrier with a “presence” in the US, can operate with the same rights as a US carrier.
Take for example the first Mexican carrier to cross the border under this program, Transportes Olympic.
Owned by Fernando Paez of Apodaca NL, the sister companies are Olympic Transport and Fernado Paez Transport, based in McAllen Texas.
All of these trucks are dual plated, registered in both Texas and Nuevo Leon Mexico, all perfectly legal. Drivers for Transportes Olympic such as our friend Luis Gonzalez, can legally pick up a load in Monterey, and deliver it to it’s destination in the US. All perfectly legal. As Gonzalez stated in an interview last year, he has been doing it safely and without incident for the past 7 years.
Fernando Paez and Transportes Olympic is not the only participant to put themselves in this position. We’ll let the reader figure who the others are. It is not difficult to do.
Then the forgotten element in this mad race to ban 100 Mexican trucks from US roadways is the 800-1300 Mexican carriers who were grandfathered in back in 1982. “Grandfathering” means they were allowed to operate in the US before the 1982 Moratorium and the Moratorium did not effect them.
So for more than 30 years, these Mexican carriers have been operating in the US without incident and safely. Why has no one mentioned these? Perhaps because that is a fight that Hoffa can’t win?
Under Federal law, ANY Mexican truck, including the cross border drayage trucks are allowed access to the United States in order to make a delivery in Canada. They cannot load nor unload in the US but are allowed to transit the US in order to make their destination in Canada. This is another little item Hoffa and the opponents haven’t addressed.
Our status as a Nation that can be trusted has taken another hit
Treaties? Trade Agreements? We’ll Violate Them with Impunity
So with passage of this bill, the only real effect is to say to U.S. negotiating and trading partners, “Ha. You didn’t really believe us, did you? Suckers.”
Sad that this debate was driven not by facts but by one evil little man’s obsession with a group that would not and could not have any impact on the American trucking industry. And he used his distorted version of the truth, substituting truth for lies to suit his agenda.
Hoffa believes that opposition to NAFTA will bring jobs back to the US and bolster Union membership which has been declining for decades. It won’t.
Perhaps people will wake up before it is too late.
LAWSUITS AND LITIGATION FOR YEARS
I believe, short of President Bush issuing an Executive Order, we’re in for years of expensive litigation.
One thing in this bill that’s jumps out at me is this condition:
HR 6630 also prohibits the transportation secretary from granting authority to any Mexican trucks beyond the commercial zone, unless specifically authorized by Congress.
Under NAFTA, a Tri-Lateral Agreement, Canada is also a party. Why is not Canada mentioned here. This will probably be a good point for the government of Mexico to raise if they decide to go before the NAFTA arbitration board once again.
If this becomes law, Mexico will have every right to expel the American participants in the program, unless they decide to establish a Mexican subsidiary. But even then, unlike the Mexican carriers who will be able to use their own drivers in the US, the American companies will be required to hire Mexican nationals to operate in Mexico.
Expect Mexico to consider throwing tariffs up in retaliation. The NAFTA arbitration board has already given Mexico the green light to do so. And don’t expect the American companies who will be forced to pay these tariffs not to pass the added costs on to the American consumer.
People, you deserve what happens next!
Want to read more? Check out LIFE ON THE ROAD where my opinion is valued.
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Related posts:
- James P Hoffa – Obsessed with Mexican trucks and clueless of the truth
- More lies from Teamsters prez Jimbo Hoffa concerning retaliatory tariff’s
- USA TODAY COUNTERPOINT – James P. Hoffa repeats the same tired propaganda.
- Teamsters’ Hoffa leads protectionist border rally protesting trucking program
- Hoffa Praises Proposal to Ban Unsafe Mexican Trucks
Let’s hope Mary Peters finds a way to circumvent Dorgan and his cavemen once again.
I don’t think there will be a way to circumvent this one. It is up to President Bush to
1. Open the border by Executive Order
2. Proponents including participants to file suit once this becomes law
3. To pay the multi billion dollars penalties Mexico can rightfully assess against the US for going back on it’s word.
Which do you think is the better choice?
REALLY REALLY HAPPY TO SEE THEM GETTING RID OF YOUR BEAN EATER’S EXPRESS TRAILER TRUCKIN PROGRAM !!!!
LIKE I SAID STAY ON YOUR SIDE OF THE BORDER !!!! PUNTA !!!
Happy about what? It ain’t going anywhere anytime soon! Count on it kupkake!
That doesn’t matter me n my Blue Blooded American Trucking Friends will be waiting on our side of the border to deal with you WET BACK’S ???????????
Oh joy, an Internet Tough Guy. I’m trembling in my boots. Honestly.
Porter, I don’t think there’s much to worry about here; Bush will veto this, the House and Senate will have to come up with a super-majority (not unheard-of, but not exactly common, either,) and the whole thing will languish in DC. Despite the propaganda campaign against Mexico trucks, we haven’t seen one instance of unsafe trucks on the road – which is more than I can say for some of the local rigs I see boppin’ down the interstate, sheddin’ retreads left and right while Ronny Redneck drives like he’s in his Camarro.
Yeah Tony, he’s one of our resident trolls hiding behind a proxie out of the Netherlands on an ISP which has been traced through Pa to a firm in Washington DC. Give you any ideas?
Not worried at all about this whichever way it goes. I’ve made my point and exposed the oppositions lies and malignment of the truth which is what I set out to do.
It is a damned shame that lies, nativism and protectionism trumps the truth. Not to mention the blatant racism, which with the participation of sites such as STORMFRONT and ALIPAC.us justifies that declaration
A Troll ??? going through the Netherlands then through Pa to a firm in Wash ???? Boy you got some screwed up equipment there Hoole’oooo ??????????? But the firm in DC is right !!! It’s called the Dept of Defense !!! Thats who I work with !! N yes they provide my internet connection connection but that beside the point . I’ve got 30 years of cross country experience alone so don’t try to say I’m a Troll “”what-ever that is”" I’m concerned with the safety of my family n the general public . Those Mex trucks were hand picked and are not of the normal variety . Trinity is of the normal variety with those thousands of violations and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you n your kind from haveing the run of “”MY”" country !!!
I’m proud to have Americans like Jimmy Hoffa and Todd Spencer being a voice for the American Trucker. You people are “takers” so what if you don’t get what you want this time. You come across the border and take from the American tax payer. You take health care, food, jobs and any thing else you can get for free. I don’t understand why if your country is so bad, and people are dieing to get out then why not stay and try to make it better. Fight for your own country don’t try to come across the border and take from the US. We would rather pay a little more for our products than let the flood gates open to from Mexico. This fight is not entirely about safety or drug tests for the Mexican driver. It’s about principle and playing by the same rules. You people think we don’t know that once the borders are open a flood of Mexican trucks will not come take jobs and bring more illegals over to take take take form the hard working Americans.
Proud USA Trucker. Apparently you have not read this site or you would not be using the word “you people” as I am an American Citizen, a trucker with over 35 years on the road who happens to make my home in Mexico.
There is nothing to be proud of people like Jimmy Hoffa or Todd Spencer who push their agenda with lies and fraudulent statements to prey upon the fear of the American people. Nothing to be proud of there at all.
This is just a small battle. The war has yet to be won on this one.
After all. It is an election year and a lot of this is political posturing and pandering for the vote.
But as I said in this article, and it can be checked for accuracy. If the program was suspended today, the majority of the Mexican carriers involved would legally be allowed to continue operation under their US subsidiaries using their own drivers. So all of the hoopla is for nothing.
And in the end, it doesn’t matter what any of us wants. The politicians will do what is best for them, and to hell with the rest of us
If you are a True American talking the way you do about America then you are a traitor and not worth anything and are more racist n biased than all of us put together . You love Mexico so much then stay there and make it what all of you down there are trying to steal from us ?? Myself I have no desire to do any bussiness in Mexico so you can have it !! But you will stay out of my country in return !!! One Way or the other !!
Oh, I don’t think so. As a US citizen, I come and go as I choose! Alabama today, Houston tomorrow and Monterrey the next day.
AIS Engineering?
A US Citizen and a BORN HERE TRUE USA CITIZEN are 2 completely different things ?? If your so unhappy with My country then stay in Mexico in your’s .. How about a larger non fuzzy picture of yourself ????? Anyone from any country can be a US Citizen but that doesn’t mean their a American ?? You haft to be born into that and you will never make it .. All you will ever be is a half breed traitor ???
Naaaw!
If your idea of being a TRUE USA CITIZEN is to spread your hate and bigotry and other half ass cracker ideas, I’ll remain as I am. Born in Oklahoma, raised in Arkansas, USAF vet with nothing but disdain for you armchair patriots.
A TRUE USA CITIZEN is tolerant of others and without the hate and rancor you and yours display against people you perceive to be different than you.
You’ll have to be happy with that photo. I have no desire to provide you with inspiration to fulfill your autoerotic fantasies hero.
I agree with Mercenary Trans. I used the phrase “you people” to see if it would push a button and I see it did. You are living in Mexico because the cost of living is cheep. So that makes you a taker. Sucking the life our of your host be it the US or Mexico. If you cared at all for the people in Mexico then you would be educating them on making their side of the border a place they want to live. I stead you working on pushing them in to the US by using trucking to make you a profit. If you are a US Citizen than why are you trying to bring the tax paying Americans down. Most of us work hard and pay taxes striving to make our country a better place to live. Our cost of living dictates how we live. If you grew up in the US then you know we can’t live on 25cpm. Hell most of the trucking companies want to pay 32cpm. Which is a true slap in the face for working an 80 hour week. I feel that you hide behind the distorted picture you post because you are playing both sides of the border Mr Poter M. Corn AKA americatrucker, Life on the Road and this site. You better rally for Obama for president because I know McCain voted against the Cross Border Trucking program. Say what you want but “You People” need to stay on your side of the Border.
I AGREE 100%
Naaa! You didn’t push anyones button. I get a kick out of reading your comments written in your Jethro Bodine 6th grade education style of misspelled words and lack of understanding on how to punctuate and make paragraphs (the ENTER KEY twice)
It is obvious you know nothing about me nor my life here. I give as much as I receive and I receive immense satisfaction living here among decent people that don’t seem to know how to hate and look down their noses at others
The cost of living here is not much different from the US, only the costs are allocated in different ways.
Vote for OBAMA? Not in this lifetime! He has his head stuck so far up Jimmy Hoffa’s ass that he could suck his dick from behind.
You crackers take care and due to your buddies personal attack and threats, your comments will be moderated!
OH he doesn’t like it when there is more than 1 of us telling him how much of a idiot he is ???? Now he is going to moderate it so the rest of his “”WET-BACK”" bastard cousin’s can’t see that he’s a idiot !!!??? Ya know there hoole-oooo here at the DOD we have ways to straighten that picture out !!!! Maybe we could post it in a few places n truckstops and the net with a ongoing print on what your saying about America for all to see when you travel around ????
Here’s another US citizen (born here, many generations, noplace to send me back to) — I have a lot of questions about NAFTA, but if it’s going to be implemented it needs to be evenhanded. They open their borders a certain amount, we reciprocate.
Lopsided “free” trade has already put thousands of farmers out of business in Mexico and now Central America — We kept our farm subsidies, they had to stop theirs — and “free” trade that says trucks can only cross the border one way is no fairer.
People seem to forget that Mexico and points south are real places. I’ve spent part of my life living there, too, and not because of the lower cost of living. Doesn’t make me a traitor, just broadens the mind a bit. People are just people, my brothers and sisters before we belong to any race or country. Their lives are just as real as mine, and a whole lot harder.
Every Mexican I know well enough to discuss this with has been absolutely clear from Day 1 that NAFTA’s main purpose was to screw Mexico to the wall (most of them too polite to put it that way). In other words, for the US to use Mexico for profit — and, secondarily, as a source of cheap labor. Though that’s not exactly written into the treatly, it’s an inevitable result.
Any time someone suggests letting up on the vise even a little bit, there’s this chorus of “Ouch, we’re dying!” from north of the border. Please.
And I am really sick and tired of the “Stay there and make it better” line. There are people who have the resources to do this — most of them educated and/or exceptionally courageous. Changing a hierarchical society from the bottom is a ticket to an early grave, in a lot of places. Lots of reform-minded people die young, at the moment most notably journalists, non-corrupt police officers, and working women.
Good to have you writing on important subjects, Mexico Trucker. It’s refreshing to have someone see humans on either side of the border as equals. Not to do so is the definition of nativism.
If you don’t want to hear the “”Stay there n make it better”"line then they need to quit say’n they are American’s n then condeming America n it’s ways ??? If they like Mexico so much then that’s Great but stay there n live there n be supportive of them and help to change things in that country for the better !! I am aware of the fact that there is good mexican people and I am aware of the fact that the Mexican people will only be hurt by this NAFTA arrange-ment just like us North of the border.
It’s only a win win deal for the big companies but I’m also aware that most mexican trucks are death traps waiting to happen and I’m also aware of the lack of enforce-ment or ability to moniter, check, verify or know the back-ground history of most mexican truck drivers or and the general public as well ?? I do not want that type of driver or equipment with a question-able record shareing the highway in my country with my family out on that same highway going about their bussiness n end up being killed only to have that mexican driver sent back to mexico with nothing done to him and a week later he’s back out on my highways again with a different CDL ??????????
These mexican carriers that have been running this pilot program this last year were hand picked with newer equipment and are not anything like the everyday mex truck or driver .. Also they are not checked as closely as we are ?? Only a small % get’s checked at the border !!!I have “”NO”" intrest in driveing south of the border with the corruption that goes on or being robbed or shot by a gang down there or my equipment damaged or stolen ect ect ???? Even if a person wanted to run down there after the federallies realize that all they haft to do is open a weigh station and collect fines it will be a total nightmare if you survive everything else ???
Outside of America on a Mexican Highway with a Mexican Weigh Station full of Federallies ???????????? GET REAL !!!!!!
[...] 13, 2008 · No Comments P.M. Corn, in Mexico Trucker, on the latest stupid move by the United States Congress to “stop the [...]
It is not unpatriotic to voice dissent about America. In fact, that is precisely what our beloved freedom of speech should be used for. Without dissent and outcries, no progress is ever made. It is a true patriot who recognizes a fault in his nation and raises his voice to try and correct it. You may not agree that his ideas will make the nation better, but please do not undermine his motives.
This is not and cannot truly be about safety. Why? Because, as the author pointed out, there are and have been Mexican trucking companies operating in the States for years now, and that hasn’t been a problem; furthermore, the pilot program was designed as a test, and the Mexican companies passed the test. Dangerous Mexican trucks are no more a worry than dangerous American or Canadian trucks: have you honestly never had to go through a roadside safety inspection?
If you have driven extensively in Mexico, you surely understand that it is much less neat and organized than the States and Canada. In Mexico: turns are tighter, lanes are narrower, pavement is highly variable, lighting is spotty, signage can be iffy, speed limits and passing zones are more like suggestions than laws, and there are unpainted speed bumps on the highway. If a person can drive a long-haul truck in Mexico, then driving one in the States will be a cake-walk. If you’re going to be concerned about safety on the road, be concerned for the American driving south, not the Mexican driving north.
Mexico has mechanisms in place to ensure the safety of its truck drivers; Canada does too. Denying one while allowing the other is not a level-headed approach. The drayage sysem is an unnecessary waste of resources and time; the only plausible reason it has continued to operate for this long has to be the Teamsters’ fear of losing jobs in an unnecessary sector. Here in Wichita, we have many people who get paid big bucks to do almost nothing in the airplane industry. The unions would pitch a fit if they were to be fired, just as they would pitch a fit if drayage were eliminated. This is the Teamsters using scare tactics to force America to allow inefficiency in its transportation industry, nothing more.
If you despise Mexicans, if you despise Americans who move to Mexico, if you despise undocumented immigrants — fine. But none of that is a good reason for supporting or opposing a piece of transportation legislation.
It is not unpatriotic to voice dissent about America. In fact, that is precisely what our beloved freedom of speech should be used for. Without dissent and outcries, no progress is ever made. It is a true patriot who recognizes a fault in his nation and raises his voice to try and correct it. You may not agree that his ideas will make the nation better, but please do not undermine his motives.
This is not and cannot truly be about safety. Why? Because, as the author pointed out, there are and have been Mexican trucking companies operating in the States for years now, and that hasn't been a problem; furthermore, the pilot program was designed as a test, and the Mexican companies passed the test. Dangerous Mexican trucks are no more a worry than dangerous American or Canadian trucks: have you honestly never had to go through a roadside safety inspection?
If you have driven extensively in Mexico, you surely understand that it is much less neat and organized than the States and Canada. In Mexico: turns are tighter, lanes are narrower, pavement is highly variable, lighting is spotty, signage can be iffy, speed limits and passing zones are more like suggestions than laws, and there are unpainted speed bumps on the highway. If a person can drive a long-haul truck in Mexico, then driving one in the States will be a cake-walk. If you're going to be concerned about safety on the road, be concerned for the American driving south, not the Mexican driving north.
Mexico has mechanisms in place to ensure the safety of its truck drivers; Canada does too. Denying one while allowing the other is not a level-headed approach. The drayage sysem is an unnecessary waste of resources and time; the only plausible reason it has continued to operate for this long has to be the Teamsters' fear of losing jobs in an unnecessary sector. Here in Wichita, we have many people who get paid big bucks to do almost nothing in the airplane industry. The unions would pitch a fit if they were to be fired, just as they would pitch a fit if drayage were eliminated. This is the Teamsters using scare tactics to force America to allow inefficiency in its transportation industry, nothing more.
If you despise Mexicans, if you despise Americans who move to Mexico, if you despise undocumented immigrants — fine. But none of that is a good reason for supporting or opposing a piece of transportation legislation.