Friday, the FMCSA RELEASED CROSS-BORDER TRUCKING PILOT DETAILS and the reaction was basically “so what’s new?” except amongst the usual suspects who object to anything concerning Mexico.
OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer released his usual whining rant making baseless allegations they’ve never been able to document nor prove
ATA President Bill Graves issued a statement in support of the proposal.
James P. Hoffa, President of the Teamsters Union who is usual first out of the box with his sophomoric rants about “unsafe” Mexican trucks and “unqualified” Mexican drivers, was suspiciously absent, however, the website, TEAMSTERS NATION chimed in with their instructions, showing they haven’t got a clue and are pushing fear mongering to achieve their agenda.
Their instructions to whoever reads their blog:
Write down this number: FMCSA-2011-0097
It’s the docket number for the Transportation Department’s official proposal to open the border to trucks coming from the war zone known as Mexico.
The proposal will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, if the government doesn’t shut down. You have 30 days to tell them why this is the stupidest fucking idea EVER. We’ll let you know on Monday (if the government isn’t shut down) how to send in your comments. But you’ll have to include the docket number.
Here’s one suggestion, just to get you going: Hundreds of border officials are being investigated for corruption. According to NBC News………………………
Start drafting those comments now! The government has to respond to every single one, so let’s keep ‘em busy until the next millennium!
How silly and comical is that suggestion? But it gets better.
This morning, they published instruction on How to stop Mexican trucks
Here’s what they are telling their members:
Tomorrow, you must get out your ink pen and write to the government to say, “DO NOT open the border to Mexican trucks.”
Do it tomorrow. Do it the next day, and the next. Do it every day for 30 days.
Here’s why: The federal government must post an official notice in the Federal Register in order to open the border to Mexican trucks. The public has 30 days to submit comments. The government must read every single comment and respond to it before the border can be opened.
Let’s send them so many letters they’ll be retired by the time they can respond. The letters don’t have to be long. They just have to give a reason for keeping the border closed. Click here if you need a reason.
They go on to give a sample letter for their members to write that has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican trucks or truckers. This is the sample they provide:
FMCSA-2011-0097
April 11, 2011
Dear Sir:
An an American citizen, I am horrified by FMCSA’s plan to open the border to Mexican trucks. Giving violent drug cartels more access to American highways is harmful to American interests. Mexico is in a state of war. Nearly 35,000 people have been murdered in drug violence in that country since 2007. Ciudad Juarez, which is right across the border from El Paso, is the most dangerous city in the world.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
So please people. If you oppose having the United States comply with our legal obligations to allow Mexican trucking companies access to the United States, then by all means, follow the instructions of TEAMSTERS NATION to the letter. Put down you crayons, pick up a big boy/girl pen and send your letter as instructed. (Don’t forget to stay inside the lines kiddies)
AND WHEN YOU’RE FINISHED, YOU’VE WASTED YOUR TIME!
Think I’m joking? Lets backtrack to 2007 when comments were opened concerning the past Cross Border Program which was defunded by union cronies in Congress.
TEAMSTERS NATION is correct that FMCSA must read every comment submitted and take them into consideration at the end of the comment period. They DO NOT have to respond to the comments individually, only in a general manner in the Federal Register.
In 2007, comments coming into FMCSA concerning 2007-28055 where ridiculous, sophomoric and moronic. Out of almost 2500, only a handful contained valid reasons for or against commencement of the Cross Border Program.
As FMCSA wrote in the Federal Register after the comment period had ended, “All comments were accepted and studied an duly noted that few offered any valid reason to suspend the program” [paraphrased]
You can read some of the examples I used here, or you can Google 2007-28055 and read all of them at the source.
BITS AND PIECES
Our favorite OOIDA/TEAMSTER is back in action at Congress.org, this time with an even more moronic letter directed at President Obama. Here’s some highlights complete with misspellings.
Since that time, we have been subjected to a clash of cultures that is anything but positive as I have tried to point out in previous letters titled The Downside of Cheap Labor. In those reports, I spoke of the tendency of illegal migrants to partake of higher than normal bouts of drunken driving, drag racing drunk, murders and sexual crimes; the latter committed against women as well as children as young as eight months. And now in addition to this, we the people of this nation, thanks to you sir, will be exposed to drunken Mexicans driving substandard trucking rigs on our highways because you have an axe to grind with the people of this nation………………
As for Mexican truck drivers, Pres. George W. Bush had the sense to initiate a trial period during which Mexican trucks were allowed in our country, but restricted to an area no more than twenty-five miles north of our southern border. It was during this trial period that it was determined that Mexican trucks and their drivers are unfit for our highways………………….
We have to believe this because U.S. citizens cannot enter Mexico by just walking across our common border. No sir. Getting caught in Mexico without a Visa is a felon. Illegal migrants are not welcome in Mexico………..
But what trucker in his right mind would want to enter Mexico to subject themselves to murderers, beheadings, thieves and Montezuma’s revenge? ……………………..
e. Sir, even if you were sincere, and sincerety is not one of you hallmarks, we don’t have the manpower to thoroughly check each and every Mexican truck and its driver entering this nation bringing drugs, illegal migrants and a clash of cultures into our country………………………..
Mexican truckers will not be required to carry liability insurance, keep their trucks in top running order or pay high road taxes to pay for their wear and tear on our highways, as must our truckers……………………….
Somebody is going to die at the hands of Mexican truckers because they do not know the rules of the road, drive drunk the wrong way on one way streets and highways. A tiny little girl was recently killed by one of those drunken Mexican truckers. Keep Mexican truckers off our streets and highways. They are already congested with the three million new migrants–legal and illegal–that enter our nation each year. Just keep taking trips in Air Force to invite everyone on this continent to “y’all come. Amnesty and jobs await you . . . yadah yadah yadah.” The insanity must stop!!!!!! Please do us a favor and wihdraw your name from the 2012 election? We need a break………………………………………
Yeah, Todd and Jimbo are probably really proud of this clueless moron in Fredericktown Ohio.
TRUCKING TALKERS AND OTHER LOONY TOONS
Admittedly, I fell asleep from boredom Friday and Saturday night listening to ATN and Bubba Bo who seemed to have problems keeping his phone lines full so we can only imagine what was said. The usual without a doubt.
Steve Sommers, on ATN last taking his first opportunity to break the news since it’s release, was his typical sardonic, sarcastic self, maintaining the OOIDA party line concerning Mexican trucks, referring to the proposal as “comical” and his Buddy Hackett soundalike, Warren, aka “Sugar Bear” coming on throughly pisses and ready to stick pencils in his ass to dull the pain. And has anyone heard Sommers latest spiel for OOIDA where he incredulously revealed that “FMCAS is going to open our borders to Mexican Trucks!! Really!!! You can’t make this stuff up!” Had me laughing my ass off and bouncing lane to lane.
Dave Nemo, this morning to his credit, finally admitted the the excuses about safety, security and all the rest were a sham. His main focus is on supposed job losses. I have a lot of respect for Dave, who along with Evan Lockridge are about the only two talkers on trucking radio worth listening to. But Nemo really needs to look at the numbers to realize his fears are groundless.
The proposal is scheduled to be published int he Federal Register Wednesday, April 13, 2011 with comment accepted through May 13, 2011 unless the opposition whines their way into an extension as they did back in 2007. Comments can be made at REGULATIONS.GOV and you will need the Docket Number which is FMCSA-2011-0097.
We’ll be monitoring the comments as we did in 2007 and share some of the more whacked out ones with you.
I’m sitting here tonight listening to the American Trucking Network and the Mexico bashing going on by Eric “Bubba Bo” Boulanger, a know nothing DJ who by virtue of a Class B CDL considers himself an expert on Mexico and trucking in general, and his buddy Rusty “Yoda” Wade, an owner operator who is spending the evening saying “bite me” anytime something is said about Mexico or Mexico trucking, and thought a quick post to once again combat and debunk their special brand of bullshit was in order.
No databases, bogus CDL’s, unqualified drivers, unsafe rigs, all the normal crap you can expect to hear on the weekends at America’s Trucking Network (ATN) is being thrown out tonight.
Consider the graphic on the left from a brochure available from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) which is a training tool for CVSA commercial truck inspectors to educate them what to look for when they encounter a driver with a Licencia Federal de Conductor.
Read it and be educated. It proves and shows how enforcement officers can connect to the LFIS (Mexican database) through either the NCIC or the CDLIS databases in the United States.
The instructions also confirms other things about he Licencia Federal de Conductor that we’ve written about here.
For that matter, if one has the 1. License Number and 2. The medical certificate number, one can go to the internet and check the validity of the Licencia Federal de Conductor. How simple is that?
It is so damned easy to debunk the rants of opposition.
Dave Nemo, one of the more respected voices in Trucking Radio seems ready to abandon principles and feature leaders of bona fide hate groups on his daily program on XM-171
One of the most vile, racist and unconstitutional laws was passed and signed by Arizona governor Jan Brewer in the form of SB-1070, a law that has spawned a firestorm of protest.
It’s a law that usurps federal authority for immigration enforcement and puts it in the hands of local and state authorities. The fear is, it will lead to racial profiling as it is targeted towards Hispanics.
Governor Brewer claims it specifically prohibits racial profiling, and that claim is still to be determined, but one can’t overlook human nature, especially in Arizona where this law legitimizes the actions of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his masked goon squads that have been terrorizing Hispanics for several years now.
Jesus Serrano, and independent owner operator for a Los Angeles based carrier, who hauls fresh produce from the warehouses in Nogales to the distribution centers in Los Angeles is putting together a boycott of more than 100 truckers who make the Arizona to California haul in protest of this bill which he believes will put himself and others of Mexican-American descent at risk of harassment and/or arrest by overzealous enforcement officers. Serrano is a naturalized US citizen born in Mexico.
Serrano was interviewed yesterday on The Lockridge Report and as usual when someone does a neutral well though out interview, the hate mongers and know nothings immediately filled the phone lines with their negative and totally untrue rants against Mexicans. Kudos to Lockridge for putting the over the top morons in their places are simply hanging up on them.
But the hate and bigotry against Mexicans and Mexican truckers being pushed by OOIDA and others has gotten out of hand.
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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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You hear it every night on late night talk shows such as Rollye James and Art Bell and George Noory and it’s expected that some losers actually believe the talk about North American Unions, Superhighways to benefit Mexico and China and the like, and each time I hear these claims, I shake my head in pity at the people who don’t have the wherewithal to think for themselves.
But then I come across a website such as In Freedoms Cause, and it angers me to think that this bullshit is poisoning the minds of this nations youth.
The author of this blog, a 16 year old named Daniel Berkompas who describes himself as a 16 yr. old Reformed Presbyterian living in the good ol’ rainforests of southwest Washington. Beautiful country, Washington State, good people and a lot of free thinkers.
Danny has taken on the issue of the fictional North American Union and the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and for a seemingly intelligent young man, has taken the stance of the conspiracy theorists and nativists who oppose this fictional union.
Some points the young man makes:
Open Borders. They want trade to be able to flow smoothly and easily through the borders, without any more impediments than they can help. For this purpose, they have implemented a “trusted traveler” program, where Mexican trucking companies can register themselves as “trusted” and thereby simply cross the border, no questions asked. No checks, no stops, just breeze straight across the border.
The Trusted Traveler Program is generally recognized as a program where frequent fliers on US airlines can pay a fee and submit to a complete background check in order to obtain credentials to use expedited TSA lanes at US airports. It has nothing to do with Mexican trucks, Mexican truck drivers nor does it allow said drivers to breeze right through Customs without stopping or checks.
Perhaps he was thinking of another program under the US Governments “Trusted Traveler” programs, called SENTRI or Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection Well, SENTRI has nothing to do with Mexican trucks either. It permits travelers returning from Mexico or Mexican citizens access to a special inspection lane which uses a transponder to identify them prior to their reaching the inspectors.
Wait a minute. Danny must have been thinking about FAST, or FREE AND SECURE TRADE. This enables truck drivers from all three countries to apply for the clearance, pay a fee and receives an intensive background check in order to obtain credentials to enter the US from Mexico or from Canada and vice versa. Truckers cannot enter at will and avoid inspections. Ah, the frivolity of youth and public school education.
Danny goes on to make a second incorrect assumption:
# North American ID. In order to make it easy for Mexican truckers to travel throughout America, they advocate either an ID that would be recognized by all 3 nations, or equal status for all national ID’s.
Guess what Danny, they already exist and have for as long as I’ve been alive and they have nothing to do with Mexican truckers specifically. They are called PASSPORTS The US has them and they are accepted worldwide. Canada also has them as does Mexico. Mexican truckers are required to have them, in addition to a B1/B2 visa stamp, for which they undergo a background investigation including criminal check, before the visa stamp is issued. In addition, Mexican truckers or tourists are required to obtain from the US Department of State, an I-94 entry/exit document. Canada is exempt from both of these requirements.
The third point little Danny makes is this:
# Unified Trade Code. When you have a bunch of foreign trucks coming through, you need to have universal highway code that applies to them. After all, if there is an accident, would you judge the incident by American or Mexican law? The resulting unified trade code would trump U.S. law, making us subject to a form of international law.
Who has heard of a Unified Trade Code? Another example of the lunacy going on in the mind of Jerome Corsi to sell his books? And why does Danny mention trade when he is referring to highway laws and regulations? Of course, Danny probably hasn’t completed driver ed yet, if they still offer it in public schools in the US, but traffic laws generally are the same anywhere you go in the world. But let’s concentrate on Mexico as opposed to the US.
In Mexico, the national speed limit on Federal highways is 110 kilometers per hour. In the US, it varies from 65 to 80 mph. In Mexico, you never make a right turn on a red light. In the US, it is permissable. Stop means STOP, ALTO means STOP. The signs are the same. When a foreign national, in this case a Mexican, is operating a motor vehicle within the confines of the United States, he is bound by the laws of the State and the County or Municipality he is operating in. HE is bound as we all are by the laws of the State, County, City and Federal Government. No special treatment.
The same as when I am home in Monterrey or transiting between the border and Monterrey. I am bound by all traffic and criminal laws and statutes of the States and Cities I travel through. My Mexican auto insurance covers me in the event of an accident the same as a Mexican driver’s US insurance would cover him. Is that such a difficult concept to master?
And finally, Danny makes an absurd comment about the supposed NAFTA superhighway:
# Superhighways. They also endorse the building of massive superhighways, such as the Trans-Texas corridor, which would facilitate open border travel throughout all the way from Mexico to Canada, and the ability to get off anywhere in between.
Guess what? We already have highways that transit the US from the Mexican border to Canada. I-5 corridor. The I-35 corridor, I-15, to name a few. At some point in our lifetime, we will see a Trans Texas Corridor or whatever you want to call it. Our interstates are aging and some date back to the administration of Dwight Eisenhower. The country is growing and the infrastructure needs to grow with it. And one can imagine that when the great cross country interstates were being built, there were similar outcries against them. And where would we be today without them.
A Superhighway, Trans Texas Corridor, NAFTA superhighway, whatever tag you put on it, will eventually alleviate traffic congestion and expedite travel of all types. Maybe not in my lifetime, but it will happen.
But yeah, it saddens and angers me that the youth of today, tomorrows leaders are exposed to this type of crap in their formulative years. And after having heard Jerome Corsi spew his propagando numerous times on Rollye James and America’s Trucking Network, and occasionally reading his articles on World Net Daily, he is definitely not the type of role model these kids should follow.
Thank God 16 year olds do not have the right to vote.
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