"Dangerous, unsafe, rolling junkyards" such as these 2011 Kenworth T-660's, at least that is the claim of opponents such as the Teamsters and OOIDA or poised to become a common sight on US highways. Mexican trucks and their drivers have historically returned safety and compliance ratings superior to US carriers
We were told by OOIDA, the Teamsters and the bogus safety groups that make up their allies that 10′s of 1000′s of “dangerous, unsafe, unregulated” Mexican trucks driven by drug using, untrained, unlicensed scofflaws were waiting at out southern border to invade the United States, taking jobs from American truckers and wreaking havoc on our roadways.
17 years later, the border is open to Mexican carriers wishing to participate in the second Cross Border Pilot Program but we’ve yet to see the hordes of dangerous, unsafe trucks and their drivers in our country or on our roads.
Only 33 Mexican trucks have crossed since the U.S. opened its southern border to long-haul trucks in October, said William Quade, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s associate administrator for enforcement and program delivery.
“Participation is not where we want it or need it to be to make it a viable program,” Quade said today at a meeting of the agency’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee in Alexandria, Virginia. “The agency is extremely concerned about not having sufficient data.”
And that’s just the way OOIDA and their allies want it, planned for it when their misinformation about Mexican trucks and the Mexican transportation industry was revealed to be bogus and their propaganda found to be outrigt deceitful by Mexico Trucker Online. Then, OOIDA turned to the only tool left in it’s arsenal. Making irrelevant and often misleading statements about the individual applicants to FMCSA during the 10 day comment period.
To date, 3 Mexican carriers have been cleared to participate in the program according to Quade, and backed up by our own research. These 3 carriers have made a total of 33 crossings since the program began in October.
On the other side of the coin, three American carriers who were accepted by Mexico into the program in 2007 continue to operate in and out of Mexico, having made more than 2000 trips south of the border. Mexico never terminated their portion of the program in 2009 when Congress defunded the previous successful Border Demonstration Program.
Anonymous comment submitted to FMCSA……………….these motor carriers will sooon be the mules for bringing illegal immigrants all over america to commit crimes and then get them home again. its a wonderful drug smuggling and illegal immigrant smuggling opportnity for mexico. mexican govt wants all mexicans t be supported by us taxpayers, so this scheme also lets mexico get away with that burden for american taxpayers. the lawlessness for these drivers will be an immense cost to american taxpayers. all the mexicans will have fake mexican documents, which are freely given out by the polluted corrupt mexican govt. this pilot project needs to be shut down. this is another holdover from the crap administration of george bush/dick cheney, the most inept two to ever hold presidential office. all paperwork needs to be english. the american people dont want to read and write mexican. this seems like a corrupt political payoff and bribe situation. this program was put into a bill on the iraq war as political corruption. this pilot program needs to have its budget at zero. a terrorist could pay one of these truck drivers $5 bucks and america will have a smuggled terrorist blowing us up. this whole idea of letting another country run wild to take american jobs is seriously brain dead work by washington corrupt politicians.
Initially, there was nothing in NAFTA requiring PASA’s, lengthy background checks, CVSA stickers and Level I inspections, nor even a “pilot program” to gauge the ability of Mexican trucks to operate in our regulatory environment. These were all roadblocks thrown into place by corrupt politicians at the behest of the Teamsters and OOIDA following along on Hoffa’s coattails. The idea was that the Mexicans would get so discouraged they’d throw up their hands in defeat and forget about pursuing the issue.
The opposition was wrong though and in 2009, Mexico put in place $2.4 billion dollars in legal tariff’s against select US products to get the attention of lawmakers and the public. That got the attention of lawmakers very quickly and as a result, those congress critters who had opposed the opening of the border, quickly changed their tune and left their “patrons” scurrying around looking for other ways to stop the onslaught of 3 Mexican trucks.
The low participation for the new program is due to high insurance costs and the uncertainty as to whether the border will remain open, due to the games being played by OOIDA and others. The larger Mexican carriers are staying at home until they see which direction this leads.
The U.S. must evaluate the pilot program to determine whether it would be safe to open the border to all truck traffic. So few Mexican trucks are participating that it may not be possible to have a statistically valid sample for that analysis, Quade went on to say.
What Quaide didn’t acknowledge or perhaps didn’t think about is that FMCSA has a wealth of information available to make that determination without the Cross Border Pilot Program producing significant numbers. “Legacy” carriers from Mexico who have had authority to operate in this country for the past 35 years and other Mexican carriers who have special point specific authority have been providing numbers for years. They have the data from border drayage carriers to assist them and the data from the participants in the 2007 Cross Border Demonstration Program. All of this data has historically pointed to a trucking industry which is as safe, and in most cases more compliant than their US counterparts.
So what will happen if at the end of three years, FMCSA does not have enough “data” to make a “statistically valid” determination of fitness of Mexican carriers and tries to shut the border down again? The first thing that comes to mind will be a resumption of the tariffs and they will be much more than $2.4 billion dollars that Mexico imposed the first time.
The solution is to put an end to this dog and pony show and open the borders to the Mexican carriers who desire to operate here, after they pass a PASA and comply with all rules and regulations US and Canadian carriers are required to comply with. Simple solution to a simple problem.
The doom and gloom, the havoc on our highways has yet to materialize and none of the propaganda we’ve been fed by Teamster, OOIDA and the bogus safety groups has come to pass nor will it.
Another report that opponents of cross border trucking have latched onto and using to push their agenda of misinformation about Mexican trucks is that of Mexican drug gangs “cloning” trucks to smuggle their contraband.
There is no evidence to be found that 18 wheel road rigs are being “cloned”. What the reports state is COMMERCIAL VEHICLES being cloned. A commercial vehicle can be anything from a 1/4 ton pickup to an 18 wheeler. This is like the misconception, the facts of which can’t be found, that 10,000 commercial vehicles are being hijacked. Again, the operative word is “commercial vehicle”. Package delivery vans, pickups 2 axle, three axle straight trucks.
This is what the transportation Safety Administration issued on 15 October 2010 which seems to be the basis for these amplified claims.
The TSA bulletin stated:
Drug traffickers also have been known to hijack and clone legitimate commercial trucks to transport illicit cargo across the border. According to a highway cargo trade group,in 2010, criminals hijacked over 10,000commercial trucks in Mexico.
Hmmm, a “highway trade group”? Not the best source of information depending on what side of the debate they are on..
TSA went on to state:
“Although DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) lacks evidence that drug trafficking organizations are able to clone FAST & certified trucks, it remains a concern for the private sector. (DHSI&A) “…believes the possibility that drug traffickers can use FAST & certified trucks remains low based on the numerous requirements for certification.”That said, (DHSI&A) cannot discount the potential threat based on widespread cloning by drug traffickers of other commercial trucks.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the cloned trucks that have been found in the US.
From OFFICER.COM
SUBJECT: UNUSUAL INCIDENT – CLONED CHP COMMERCIAL MRE VEHICLE USED FOR
SMUGGLING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
SYNOPSIS:
A DISABLED DODGE PICKUP TRUCK EQUIPPED WITH FUNCTIONAL EMERGENCY LIGHTS, CHP LOGOS AND PAINTED TO RESEMBLE A CHP COMMERCIAL MOBILE ROAD
ENFORCEMENT TRUCK WAS FOUND TO BE OCCUPIED WITH NINE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS.
SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:
DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF JULY 9, 2010, A US BORDER PATROL UNIT ON ROUTINE PATROL IN THE AREA OF FORRESTER ROAD NORTH OF IMLER ROAD IN
IMPERIAL COUNTY, CAME UPON AND STOPPED TO ASSIST WHAT APPEARED TO BE A CHP COMMERCIAL MOBILE ROAD ENFORCEMENT PICKUP TRUCK WITH A FLAT LEFT
REAR TIRE. WHILE THE AGENTS WERE APPROACHING THE PICKUP CHP UNIT 85-R3, OFFICERS H. TAVARES, #14839 AND R. SANCHEZ #17731, OBSERVING THE BORDER PATROL AND CHP PICKUP TRUCK, STOPPED TO RENDER ASSISTANCE. THE CHP OFFICERS IMMEDIATELY NOTED DISCREPEANCIES WITH THE MRE TRUCK’S MARKINGS AND EQUIPMENT. THE TRUCK INITIALLY APPEARED UNOCCUPIED AND UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION THE BORDER PATROL AGENTS DISCOVERED NINE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS CONCEALED WITHIN THE CARGO COMPARTMENT OF THE TRUCK FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE TRUCK WAS A CLONED VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH FUNCTIONING EMERGENCY LIGHT BARS, STAR EMBLEM, LETTERING,
PUSH BUMPER, AND ALTERED LICENSE PLATES DESIGNED TO APPEAR AS CALIFORNIA EXEMPT PLATES. A SEARCH OF THE AREA FOR THE DRIVER WAS CONDUCTED WITH
US BORDER PATROL WHICH YIELDED NEGATIVE RESULTS. THE TRUCK AND ITS OCCUPANTS WERE TURNED OVER TO HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATORS OF THE IMPERIAL VALLEY BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE LED BY ICE.
ACTION TAKEN OR CONTEMPLATED: SERGEANT PROCTOR, #13544, ASSUMED SCENE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES. PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN. THE TRUCK REGISTRATION INDICATES A RELEASE OF LIABILITY TO A COMPANY OUT OF MEXICO.ICE SEIZED THE VEHICLE PENDING FORFEITURE AND WILL HANDLE THE INVESTIGATION. ACTING COMMANDER, LIEUTENANT M. SHAFFER, #9890, WAS NOTIFIED AS WAS BORDER DIVISION CHIEF S. LYKINS.
A Webb County Texas cloned Sheriff’s vehicle:
The words “Webb County Sheriff” and “911” blazed from the side of the truck, complete with a fake serial number on the tailgate. Authorities confirmed their suspicions that the truck was a fake by contacting the Sheriff’s Office, which said it didn’t have any trucks in the area.
They like to clone TxDOT (Highway Department Trucks)
Authorities with the Texas Department of Transportation also known as TxDOT are alerting their employees and the public about an illegal operation involving drugs and fake TxDOT trucks.
Investigators in south and east Texas have busted two different individuals who they say were using fake TxDOT trucks to smuggle marijuana across the state.
One man was arrested and charged in east Texas near Yokum with drug possession. Other charges are pending.
Authorities were first tipped to the illegal operation last month by an actual TxDOT employee in south Texas near Victoria.
The employee was driving down the highway when he noticed what looked like a TxDOT truck. The employee caught up to the driver and tried to wave at him. But after the driver didn’t wave back the TxDOT employee started noticing that something about the truck wasn’t right.
“The individual had a TxDOT logo on the door which was absolutely correct but it was the reflective stripes on the side of the vehicle as well as the back of the vehicle and the numbering system so we’re happy he got it wrong because it led to his arrest” said Mark Ball, a TxDOT spokesperson out of Dallas.
TXDOT isn’t sure how long the illegal operation has been going on nor do they know how far it extends.
The state agency is warning its employees that they may be pulled over by police just to make sure they’re legitimate.
‘Cloned’ Border Patrol Pickup With DHS Plates Stopped Carrying Pot; Driver In BP Uniform; Badge, Other BP Gear Seized
These incidents generally involve the use of vehicles that have been carefully painted or otherwise made to look like an official company or government vehicle. In a few of the more brazen attempts, smugglers have used vehicles that were nearly identical to those used by Border Patrol, as evidenced by the latest incident in Del Rio, Texas.
Fake HEB truck had real cargo, but it wasn’t legal
The abandoned 18-wheeler found at a northeast Houston truck stop appeared to be part of the H-E-B supermarket chain’s transport fleet.
But investigators on Monday didn’t find a load of fresh produce bound for grocery store shelves when they opened the door. Instead, they uncovered more than 4,400 pounds of marijuana wrapped in tight plastic bundles.
H-E-B officials said they have a ready explanation: The 18-wheeler doesn’t belong to them, regardless of its rather impressive disguise.
“We have no record of that truck at all,” said Cyndy Garza-Robert, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio-based company.
DPS officials said the truck was made up to resemble one of H-E-B’s legitimate long-haul carriers. Called “cloning,” the tactic is fast becoming a favorite for narcotics traffickers hoping to avoid law enforcement scrutiny on the freeways.
“This one was extremely detailed. It would pass almost anyone’s inspection as being an H-E-B truck,” said Lt. Dan Webb, with the Texas Department of Public Safety. “The Mexican (drug) cartels have a lot of sophistication when it comes to cloning. They do their research. They do a very professional job.”
An local grocery truck which didn’t come across the border.
Ton of Marijuana Seized From Cloned UPS Truck in Arizona
Arizona Department of Public Safety Detectives have confiscated about 2,118 pounds of marijuana from a truck that appeared identical to a United Parcel Service truck.
When it just gotta hasta really be there on time, what better way than UPS or FEDEX.
I think you get the idea. When reports talk of “cloned” commercial trucks, they are referring to trucks that are part of our everyday world that wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary and normally wouldn’t be stopped.
Any questions kiddies?
You'll soon being seeing safe, modern Mexican rigs driven by professional drivers on US highways as the US finally complies with it's obligations under NAFTA
It’s all procedural, but FMCSA has refused demands by the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) to halt implementation of the Cross Border Pilot Program pending resolution of the frivolous and baseless lawsuit filed against the agency earlier this month.
OOIDA’s legal counsel, Paul Cullen Sr. with The Cullen Law Firm, sent a letter to FMCSA on July 8 asking the agency to consent to stay the program pending resolution of the petition for review.
FMCSA’s counsel denied the request on July 13.
Under rules of procedure, OOIDA was required to ask FMCSA for the stay because a party to such an appeal, (OOIDA) cannot ask the court for a stay unless it first asks the agency (FMCSA) and is turned down.
On July 6, OOIDA filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. OOIDA is demanding that the court review the program and to “enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in part), or determine the validity of the implementation of this program.”
OOIDA claims that “implementation of the pilot program is arbitrary, capricious and abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with law.”
This is just another of OOIDA’s attempts to mislead the public and prevent the United States from complying with their obligations under NAFTA.
Implementation of the cross border program will finally put us in compliance and cause Mexico to lift the legal retaliatory tariff’s put on more than 90 US export good when the Obama administration defunded the previous pilot program. Those tariffs have cost Americans more than 25,000 jobs and 14% market share in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencers admitted in a “Call to Action” that neither the lawsuit, nor a bill before Congress, HR-2407 , has a snowballs chance in hell of stopping the program.
In their desperation, OOIDA resorted to filing this lawsuit which on it’s face is “arbitrary, capricious and frivolous” inasmuch as the issues raised have already been resolved by the US Supreme Court in the case “PUBLIC CITIZEN v FMCSA” In the unanimous decision, SCOTUS sided with the defendants.
The D.C appeals court is likely to rule against OOIDA in this lawsuit also.
One has to ask themselves, “Are the folks at OOIDA as stupid as they seem to be or do they simply think the American trucker and the public are stupid”? It would seem to be a little of both after the seeing the latest attempt to derail the Mexican cross border pilot program.
The issues of “truck safety”, “border security” as it relates to Mexican trucks has all pretty much been debunked. What’s left? Appealing to the tree huggers, the environmentalists to try to stop this perfectly legitimate program.
On Tuesday, FMCSA announced the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) that evaluates the
potential environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of its United States-Mexico cross-border long- haul trucking pilot program in the FEDERAL REGISTER.
OOIDA immediately jumped into the fray recognizing that Environment Impact Statements, when required, can delay a project for months or years while the assessment is made.
Mark Reddig interviewed Joe Rajkovacz, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Senior Editor Jami Jones, whom as usual was absolutely livid at the thought of Mexicans being allowed onto our highways. And from their indignation and comments, it would appear that OOIDA is preparing to file another frivolous and meritless lawsuit based on environmental issues. Only thing wrong with this is the issue has been argued in the courts before and the plaintiff’s lost the argument.
CASE LAW PREVAILS
It started back in 2002 when Public Citizen sued the FMCSA claiming an environmental impact study was required before any effort could be made to open the southern border to Mexican trucks as required under our NAFTA obligations.
At that time, FMCSA prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), but they did not prepare and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as PUBLIC CITIZEN claimed was required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).
The EA focused mainly on the environmental impact from doing more inspections, not on the impact from more trucks driving the roads.
Public Citizen sued to stop the possibility of cross border trucking until an EIS was prepared.Public Citizen argued that the increased number of trucks on US roads was liable to have a significant environmental impact, and therefore an EIS was required. There claim was that more than 30,000 older polluting trucks burning high sulphur diesel would have an impact on our environment.
The trial court found in favor of the defendent, FMCSA. The Trial Court found that although the FMCSA pilot program would result in more trucks, FMCSA did not have control over those trucks and therefore did not have to account for them in an EIS. Public Citizen went shopping and appealed to the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, reversing the trial court. The Appellate Court found that the EA was deficient because it failed to give adequate consideration to the overall environmental impact from the Mexican trucks. Of course, FMCSA appealed, all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
The case was argued before the Supreme Court on April 21, 2004 with a unanimous verdict being rendered on June 7, 2004.
The US Supreme Court held that the FMCSA had no control of the trucks once the regulations governing the pilot program were passed, and would therefore be unable to act on the findings of an EIS even if it did conduct one.
FMCSA has no statutory authority to impose or enforce emissions controls or to establish environmental requirements unrelated to motor carrier safety.
The Court also found that the passage of the regulations was not sufficiently responsible for the increased pollution caused by the trucks to warrant an EIS.
Justice Clarence Thomas, the Courts most conservative Judge wrote the opinion which you can read here.
It’s ironic that OOIDA is constantly whining how the government need to get there fingers out of trucking in the areas of EOBR’s, HOS, Speed Limiters, and issues with the EPA and CARB, yet when it comes to a handful of Mexican trucks, they’re crying to the government demanding action be taken to keep them out of the country. Using misinformation, fearmongering and outright lies to accomplish there agenda.
They lost in 2004 and again in 2009 when 9th Circuit refused to issue a ruling on a case OOIDA and TEAMSTERS brought before the court, which was thrown out when the previous program was defunded. If they choose to waste their members money this time, they’ll lose again.
Instead of all the lies, posturing and all of the other underhanded deceitful methods they have employed, they should eat a little crow, cut their losses and politely bow out. Even Executive Vice President Todd Spencer has admitted defeat in his latest “CALL TO ACTION” with the statement; NEITHER OF THE INITIATIVES STANDS MUCH CHANCE OF STOPPING THE PROGRAM FLAT. For once, Spencer is correct.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
As usual, Jami Jones threw in claims that are not supported by facts or documentation.
First, she says that 1000′s of trucks will be coming across the border during the program. Experts, including myself have concluded that if the program is able to attract 20 Mexican carriers, they will be lucky. 20 carriers field 3 or 4 trucks per company would put less than 80 more rigs on our highways.
Jones claims they’ll be filling up in Mexico with subsidized high sulfur diesel which is another untruth. Government subsidies on fuel in Mexico ended in 2006 causing protests and shutdowns among Mexico’s trucking community
Another untruth is that ultra low sulfur diesel, 15 ppm is not available in Mexico. Mexico ships via pipelines millions of barrels of crude to the refineries on the Texas gulf coast to be refined into ULSD and returned via pipeline to Mexico where it is available in the border cities and large metropolitan areas such as Monterrey.
The pilot program would prohibit trucks earlier than 1998 and all trucks from Mexico would have to meet EPA standards in effect at time of manufacture.
Another twisting of the facts is that the “lack” of ULSD would prevent new US trucks from having comparable access to Mexican markets. However, the truth being is that most trucks that would take advantage of Mexican access would not go any further than Monterrey or Saltillo, a trip from Laredo of 200 miles. They could easily do this on a full tank of fuel purchased in the US.
We’ll keep an eye on this but from our point of view, it’s another lame attempt to delay, delay the inevitable while because of the legal retaliatory tariffs, the US continues to lose jobs and market share to Canada.
Mexican T-660 Kenworth southbound for Monterrey on Mx 85
That’s the question posed on the blog “ALL THAT’S TRUCKING” as she writes about the many nasty, racially tinged comments being thrown about as the red hot debate over Mexican cross border trucking heats up once again, and the usual actors, OOIDA, TEAMSTERS and their allies in talk radio fan the flames of their listeners prejudices. “Is racism rearing its ugly head in the debate over the long-delayed opening of the border to long-haul Mexican trucks, as required under the North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed nearly 20 years ago? I’m not saying anyone who opposes opening the border is racist or prejudiced, but in reading and listening to some of the comments on the debate, I can’t help but think it’s a factor.” says Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief at truckinginfo.com She goes on to write;
Many in this country appear to believe in a stereotype of Hispanics as lazy, greasy, thieving good-for-nothings — you know, the guy in the sombrero sleeping under the cactus. But in case you haven’t looked lately, Mexican immigrants (both legal and illegal) have become a vital part of our economy. Check out “A gringo in the lettuce fields” and think about how long you could keep up with one of these “lazy” migrant workers. Back in 2004, the film “A Day Without a Mexican” tried to “make the invisible visible” by taking a satirical look at what would happen to California if its Mexican population suddenly disappeared. Lawn work? Restaurants? Nannies? Construction crews? Maids? Car washes? Nada. So I wonder: Are some in the trucking industry letting racism, either consciously or subconsciously, affect their views on the wisdom of opening the border?
You can read the rest of the article here We tend to agree with her, especially after reading some of the 2274 comments received following the call to comment on the Cross Border Proposal by FMCSA. Comments such as this one, calling into question an FMCSA officials heritage, as if it matters.
This Mexican trucker issue is an insult to every hard working American!! (noting you are Mexican or of Mexican descent?). I have put much thought toward this issue and have come up with many reasons this should not become law. That said, bottom line??? There is NOTHING of value for us LEGAL Americans to support such a bill. Don’t do it! This is just one more idiotic move of Obama! We are Americans! Not Russians/Soviets, Not Mexicans, Not Chinese. This country as we have known it is rapidly deteriorating. Thank you for your time. Geoffrey A. Blair Lease operator
Or perhaps this one, proof that stirring the pot of hysteria and prejudice has worked for groups like OOIDA and TEAMSTERS
Hello, I am a US born citizen. I am also a self-employed truck driver. Cross border trucking will be devastating to the trucking industry. It will drive wages and rates that are already low ,even lower. Last year was the safest highways on record and you want to bring in the Mexicans. They will not abide to our laws because they won’t understand them. Highway travel will become unsafe because they can’t read ENGLISH signs. They will be making wrong turns in front of us and our families. U-turns on a Interstate Highway will become the norm and very dangerous. Mexican trucks are not maintained to our standard. When there is an accident (and there will be) ; how will the victims collect for damages or even worse ? Illegal drugs will be more common. Rape and crime will be on the increase because these people do not have the same morals as an AMERICAN. PLEASE WAKE UP AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT ! KEEP THE MEXICANS IN MEXICO – MIKE BOOKS
Here’s another one submitted by “Anonymous”, rightfully so with his apparent lack of education and more.
what kind of idiots are you . taking americans jobs away and allowing non americans ones that dont pay taxes to work here what the fuck are you dong . in this day and time when so many are out of work you alow this to pass do you know how many trucking companies are going to be out of work because of this
That one is sure to get the FMCSA to sit up and take notice. Actually, when you ignore the more than 1500 boilerplate “form letters” submitted by Teamsters members and the few such as those above, submitted by obvious OOIDA members, there are a number of good comments from folks such as mom and pop pork producers and other agri-business owners who give logical valid reasons why the proposal should go forward, as it will. The number of comments received, 2271 as of today, isn’t a realistic number though as there are many duplicates by the same commenter. However, the strategy appears to be for TEAMSTERS and others to submit as many meaningless and irrelevant comments as possible as a delaying tactic. The FMCSA must read each and every one of them, even the form letters, and that takes time. However, it is only delaying the inevitable.
Despite found guilty of bribery and trying to rig an upcoming union election, Teamster President James P. Hoffa still has time to lie to the public, Congress and his membership about Mexican trucking
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, himself in hot water after caught using his position to offer union jobs, salaries, and pensions to bribe people for political support, released a “presser” giving his totally irrelevant and patently untrue rant in opposition to the upcoming cross border pilot program with Mexico.
THE PUBLIC OPPOSES ILLEGAL, UNSAFE MEXICAN TRUCK PROGRAM is the title of this crapola presser released today which Hoffa continues to lie to his membership and the American public.
Hoffa says;
DOT’s proposal to open the border “fails to adequately protect our members, their families and the traveling public from the potential danger of unsafe Mexican trucks and drivers, who do not meet or will not adhere to all U.S. safety standards.”
It’s already been established that Mexican trucks and their drivers are not unsafe and strictly adhere to our rules and regulations.
Based on a Travel advisory issued by the US State Department on April 22, advising Americans against unnecessary travel to Mexico, Hoffa uses this as to make the ridiculous assertion that the proposed Pilot Program with Mexico is illegal because in his opinion, it violates Section 6901 of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Act of 2007.
What he is referring to is a section in the above titled act that does not allow funds to be spent on a cross-border trucking program unless “simultaneous and comparable authority to operate within Mexico is made available to motor carriers domiciled in the United States.”
Hoffa is grasping at straws while at the same time blowing smoke up the asses of anyone who still listens to his mindless ramblings.
Hoffa said the Mexican government is incapable of granting comparable authority under the current travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department on April 22.
It is very clear that the safety of the U.S. drivers traveling into Mexico cannot be ensured, and therefore simultaneous and comparable authority is not made available to U.S. motor carriers under the pilot program,” Hoffa said.
That is the statutes interpretation according to Hoffa and not the letter, spirit or intent of the statute as it was written and passed.
Comparable authority means that we allow Mexican carriers to operate in this country and Mexico in turn, allows US carriers to operate in Mexico, under similar rules. There is nothing in the NAFTA rules concerning cross border trucking that says Mexico nor the US has to “ensure” the safety of one another’s drivers.
Who is going to “ensure” the safety of Mexican drivers coming into this country from violence directed at them, through ignorance, prejudice and bigotry, inflamed by the rhetoric of the TEAMSTERS, OOIDA and their mouthpieces on talk radio. Some callers have claimed they will stop the Mexican by any means possible, up to and including sabotaging their trucks or burning them to the ground.
Hoffa and his union have become increasingly irrelevant and to most, a joke.
And remember we said Hoffa was caught up in a bribery scandal? It’s true. I guess corruption runs in the family.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union report that James Hoffa tried to pay off three top Teamster officials who had broken with his administration by offering them lucrative jobs and an additional pension in exchange for their backing in the upcoming International Union election.
In a 30 page report issued by an elections supervisor, revealed thatHoffa running mate Ken Hall offered Carhaul Director Fred Zuckerman a raise and entrance into the “Family Plan”, a lucrative extra pension exclusively for full-time IBT officials. In exchange, Zuckerman would have to back Hoffa and drop his bid to be on the General Executive Board. It was further revealed that Hoffa operatives approached several other International Union trustees with similar offers to buy campaign support with members’ dues. Those Trustees were offered jobs as full-time International Representatives if they would resign from the General Executive Board but continue to back Hoffa and donate to his campaign.
Instead, the officials turned down the bribes and blew the whistle on Hoffa.
Hoffa hatched the bribery scheme to try to hold together his unraveling administration, in which 6 top union officials have jumped ship in the face of Hoffa’s corruption.
The Elections Appeals Master found that Hoffa and three of his closest thugs “tried, but failed, to buy electoral support and stifle opposition in exchange for salaried union jobs.”
Of course, Hoffa, pathological liar he has proven himself to be denied any role in the scheme. The Election Supervisor did not find Hoffa credible, and credited witnesses and evidence that contradicted the cover story put forward by Hoffa and his thugs.
And what will Hoffa’s punishment be? After six months of investigation and three months of appeals, court-appointed election overseers have ordered Hoffa to acknowledge that he attempted to buy election support by offering jobs and pensions.
Hoffa must pay for a mailing to all Teamster locals publicizing the attempt, and place a notice on the union’s website and magazine.
So far, Hoffa is giving the judge the finger! Anybody surprised?
Safe, well maintained trucks from Mexico such as this Kenworth T-660 driven by professional safe Mexican drivers would finally be permitted access under the proposed Pilot Program released today by the US DOT
The US DOT and the Obama Administration this afternoon released it plan to finally bring the United States into compliance with it’s obligations and promises made in regards to allowing Mexican trucking companies equal access to the United States.
The DOT said the proposed new program prioritizes safety, while satisfying the U.S. States’ international obligations.
According to THE TRUCKER and other highly reliable industry sources, the proposed program parameters are that;
• The scheduled life of the pilot program will not exceed three years.
• The Mexico-domiciled motor carriers that participate in this pilot program would proceed through a series of stages prior to issuance of a permanent operating authority.
• A Mexico-domiciled motor carrier that participated in the 2007-2009 demonstration project and operated under provisional operating authority in that pilot would receive credit for the amount of time it operated under authority in calculating the 18-month provisional operating authority period.
• Mexico-domiciled motor carriers participating in the pilot program would designate the vehicles and drivers they wish to use in the pilot program. All designated vehicles and drivers must be approved by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prior to the participating motor carrier using the vehicles or drivers for transportation beyond the commercial zones along the United States-Mexico border. The requirements for FMCSA approval of drivers and vehicles are described in this notice.
• In compliance with section 350 (a)(3), FMCSA will ensure that at least 50 percent of participating drivers’ licenses are checked when crossing the border. This may be accomplished during Level I, II or III inspections.
• FMCSA would submit information on the applicant motor carriers and their drivers designated for long-haul operations in the pilot program to the Department of Homeland Security for security screening. Motor carriers and/or drivers that fail DHS’s security screening would not be eligible for participation in the pilot program.
• The FMCSA would equip each vehicle approved for use by Mexico-domiciled motor carriers in this pilot program with an electronic monitoring device such as a global positioning system and/or electronic on board recording device. As part of participating in this pilot program, the device must be operational on the vehicle throughout the duration of the pilot program.
• A driver may not participate in this pilot program unless the driver can read and speak the English language sufficiently to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records required by FMCSA.
Sounds reasonable to me as it satisfies the arbitration panels decision that the United States can set standards to be followed for Mexican trucks while they are in the United States, and although the requirements listed technically keep the US in violation of NAFTA, since the same is not required of US and Canadian trucks, other considerations int he proposal should overcome this technical point.
THE SAME BAD ACTORS, THE SAME TIRED EXCUSES
It didn’t take the usual crowd of opponents to chime in and chime in they did. First out of the gate was Todd Spencer of OOIDA who sent out a press release to the nation.
“This is the wrong plan at the wrong time for numerous reasons,” said Todd Spencer, Executive Vice President of OOIDA. “It’s irresponsible and reckless. The Administration must reconsider or Congress must step in again to force them to do the right thing.”
The wrong plan at the wrong time? After nearly 20 years of OOIDA and their cronies in Congress throwing up roadblocks that the Mexicans have met, complied and excelled at overcoming, when will be “the right time”?
I can answer that in a few words. NEVER! as long as it involve Mexicans and Mexican trucks.
Spencer goes on to spread the lies he has been telling for so long, it is entirely conceivable he believes himself.
“The onus is on Mexico to raise the safety, security and environmental standards for their trucking industry,” added Spencer. “We should not allow ourselves to be harassed or blackmailed into lowering ours.”
Actually, he is wrong or it is wishful thinking on his part. Nothing in NAFTA, nor the arbitration panels decision says Mexico has to do anything to their regulatory standards. Be they safety, security or environmentally related. The onus on Mexico is to be able and willing to comply with United States regulations and laws when operating within the boundaries of the United States. Nothing more, nothing less. The same as we require the Canadians who regularly break our cabotage laws and HOS rules, since HOS regs in Canada are much more liberal than ours.
Spencer went on to reinforce his claims by saying that Mexico does not have an even remotely equivalent regulatory regime for its trucking industry and drivers. Perhaps Mexico doesn’t have the regulatory regime that the United States has that seeks to micro manage every second of a drivers life and time behind the wheel, but what it does have seems to work. Practically daily, you see or hear on the news about big truck wrecks, some with fatalities. In Mexico, maybe once a month at best, and FMCSA statistics bear this out.
But if that wasn’t enough, in his presser, Spencer goes on to use his ultimate weapon. Fear and scaring the hell out of anyone who reads his presser without bothering to stop and think about what is being said.
They need to stop placating Mexico’s government and start fighting for the Americans they are supposed to represent,” said Spencer. “If they follow through with this, the Administration will be jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of Americans.”
Perhaps you Spencer, and your organization should stop worrying about a few well qualified companies and their drivers, bringing their own freight up here and backhauling their customers freight to Mexico and concern yourself with things that can really effect the American trucker, such as the ridiculous hours of service proposal, EOBR’s, Speed Limiters, forced sleep apnea studies, Certified Medical Examiners and the oter crap Wshington is trying to push down our throats.
OPPONENTS OF COMPLIANCE WITH NAFTA ARE IN THE MINORITY
More than 1400 trade organizations have been pressing the administration to resolve the issue and it appears their voices were heard loud and clear.
American Trucking Association’s President Bill Graves issued the following statement:
“The American Trucking Associations welcomes the progress that the United States and Mexico are making to resolve their ongoing dispute over cross-border trucking. This proposal requires Mexican carriers to follow all the same rules and regulations that their American counterparts are subject to and takes steps to monitor Mexican trucks to ensure that those rules are being followed.
This announcement is good news for the U.S. businesses that have been hurt by Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs, including the trucking industry, and we look forward to the U.S. finally living up to its commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
To read the proposal for yourself and make up your own mind and not be persuaded by those such as the OOIDA or TEAMSTERS who will continue to spin the facts to suit their agenda, you can follow THIS LINK to read the entire proposal
SOURCES:
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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