Mexico Trucker Online

James Hoffa - Out of touch with reality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A motion asking a federal court to force the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to eliminate the 11-hour driving limit and the optional 34-hour restart provision was denied Wednesday, Jan. 23.The motion was filed Dec. 19, 2007, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by Public Citizen, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, Parents Against Tired Truckers, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

In the motion, the groups asked the court to vacate the FMCSA’s interim final rule on HOS – or at least the portion of it that reinstates the two invalidated provisions. The groups also asked the court to direct FMCSA to issue another interim final rule or other authoritative guidance that limits truck drivers to a 10-hour consecutive driving limit and to the governing 60-hour and 70-hour weekly on-duty limits with no 34-hour restart.

Now, if the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco will show the same courage and wisdom on February 12, we can all worry about things that actually effect our profession.

This is an update to an earlier post which gives more specifics about this plan of the FMCSA!
I want to make a couple of glaringly valid points about this article.

First, this is nothing new! The majority of line haul carriers in Mexico already have Qualcomm communications installed in their trucks. This is the standard that others system strive to compare with. And with long distances between major cities in Mexico, this is a “must have” piece of equipment for Mexican fleets. The same holds true for U.S. carriers. The majority of U.S. and Canadian carriers have these devices.

So the question that Lesley Miller, spokesperson for the Teamsters poses, “Where will they get the money”? Don’t need any! The systems are already in most of the rigs. All it will require is a software adjustment. The only money needed will be to establish the operations center to monitor these trucks. And people, you may think they cut off funding for this program, but, the program is already established. The bill has not been reconciled and still faces veto and the money is available. Ms Millers comments further prove that the Teamsters opposition to Mexican trucks has nothing to do with safety or compliance. The Teamsters are simply scared of a little competition

WASHINGTON — Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. will provide a satellite-based tracking system for all trucks participating in a U.S.-Mexico pilot project that for the first time allows the vehicles unlimited access to the other nation’s roads.

But critics of the trade agreement on Thursday questioned how the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will pay for the technology since both houses of Congress separately voted to cut off funding for it.

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