FMCSA oft controversial Mexican Cross Border Demonstration Program is at a milestone with 30 Mexican carriers participating with 101 trucks enrolled in the program. Notice was published as required in the Federal Register and the public was given ample time to comment as required by law. It would seem that Senator Byron Dorgan’s continued attempts to shut down this legal and so far successful program are not stopping qualified Mexican carriers from entering the program.
The governing idea behind [cref nafta-for-dummies NAFTA] is to remove trade restrictions so as to encourage the free-flow of goods and services across the North American continent. Along the U.S. – Mexican border, however, the reality is that the ground transportation of such goods remains highly congested and drawn out. Long-haul trucks from Mexico are restricted from operating in the U.S. except within designated commercial zones located in border-cities such as San Diego, El Paso and Brownsville. At these sites, the contents of a truck must be unloaded and transferred onto a domestic carrier in order to continue to their ….Read More
Alabama State Troopers are enhancing revenue in that state using the vague provisions of FMCSA Regulation 391.11 (b)(2), the controversial rule requiring CDL holders to be conversant in English This rule leaves it up to the individual officer or inspector to determine, in his mind, what is “sufficient”. This can be open to abuse and a persons personal prejudice due to the vague nature of the regulation. FMCSA Regulation 391.11 (b)(2) Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official ….Read More
Yesterday was the tenth month of the Mexican Cross Border Pilot Program and an assessment of the performance of the participants reveals no surprises, at least for me. For those who oppose the program, the results might be an eye opener disputing Jimmy Hoffa’s claims of “dangerous Mexican trucks”. Ironically, it coincided with Byron Dorgan’s ultimately futile attempt to stop the program. Methodology Obviously, we took the USDOT numbers assigned to the participants and ran them through the FMCSA SAFERSYS database. All records are current through 6/20/2008. Next, we choose the date range (09/11/2007) which was the date the first ….Read More
The annual three-day inspection blitz known as Roadcheck takes place this week at more than 1,000 inspection locations at weigh stations and roadside checkpoints across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The annual event sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is Tuesday through Thursday, June 3-5, and will involve tens of thousands of inspections by federal, state, provincial and local inspectors. For Mexico Trucker, it will be the first time in almost 20 years I’ve worked during this event. Why? Well, my 10 year old Mexican owned Classic XL passed a Level I inspection in Louisiana last week so in ….Read More
I couldn’t help but break out laughing, or as Stevie Sommers puts it, “chuckle”, listening to OOIDA and LandlineNow on XM-171 last Thursday, I think it was, when they brought up the almost dead subject of the Cross Border Program. I think Mark Reddig was talking with their Washington lobbyist about the status of the program and the comment was made; All of us at OOIDA are working full time to see this program is stopped in it’s tracks! Yep, 10 months into the program, and they’re working full time to stop a program that has been successful beyond even ….Read More
Back in February, Mexico Trucker received a [cref guestbook request] for an interview, an occurrence that is fairly common reflecting the success of this site. Jessica Meyers, a UC Berkeley Grad student expressed interest in talking to us about the Cross Border Program. On March 29, 2008, we spent a pleasant day with her and her accomplished photographer, Erich Schlegel, Senior Staff photographer for the Dallas Morning News based out of Austin. Although Mexico Trucker was not mentioned in the article published today, we take pride in knowing that this site, and myself, was minimally responsible for the excellent article ….Read More
When it comes to the Mexican Cross Border truck program, everyone seems to be trying to get on the bandwagon or use the issue to boost their rankings. It doesn’t seem to matter if they get their facts right. To the contrary, most think it is cute to pass along the misinformation that has been generated by the Unions, self styled “drivers association” who back pedal and double step away from the real issues confronting truckers today. The Mexican truck issue is a non issue. So, it seems we have yet another one popping up out there in the blogosphere, ….Read More
Why comments in opposition of the Cross Border Program were seemingly ignored!
Has anyone ever wondered why it seemed that FMCSA ignored the comments posted concerning Cross Border Program when making their decision to continue with the program? Did anyone with a brain read some of the 2300 comments posted, most in opposition to the program? Here is an example of a comment posted on the FMCSA website during the comment period. FMCSA did read the comments and came to the correct conclusion that none of them gave any concise or reasoned argument against implementation of the program. This comment here shows just how misinformed and prejudiced the commenter is. All of ….Read More