During the scheduled meeting of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee in Alexandria Virginia yesterday, those were the words of Carlos Sesma, an attorney representing Mexican trucking interests before the committee. And Sesma was correct. The MCSAC is a subcommittee of the FMCSA charged with overseeing the Mexican Cross Border Pilot Program. OOIDA Executive Vice-President Todd Spencer who is a member of the committee was making the usual asinine and totally false claims about the program. “What’s behind this is access to cheaper sources of labor,” Spencer claimed after the meeting, repeating the thoroughly debunked claim that it will put American ….Read More

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 ….Read More
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Todd Spencer, Executive Vice President of OOIDA preaches that complying with our NAFTA obligations is “irresponsible and reckless”. What is more “irresponsible and reckless” is the opposition attempting to inflame the publics passions and prejudices with lies and misinformation about Mexico and it’s trucking industry.
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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 ….Read More
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In a joint presser today, President Obama and President Calderon jointly announced agreement on a renewed program allowing Mexican carriers access to the United States as agreed under the 1994 NAFTA agreement. The plan will allow for half of those tariffs to be lifted immediately. It will establish a reciprocal, phased-in pilot program that allows Mexican trucks to operate inside the U.S. provided they comply with a series of safety, driver-skills and language tests monitored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Unfortunately, Mexico has stated anything less than full access will be unacceptable. A new pilot program could fall under ….Read More
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It’s only a concept document at this point, but it has opponents of Mexico and Mexican trucking in full propaganda mode. The results of the former Cross Border Pilot Program proved that that the claims of the Teamsters, OOIDA and public safety groups were baseless and utterly false, but with this new round, that’s not stopping them. Once again they’ve enlisted Phyllis Schafly, an anti-feminist, anti-ERA conspiracy whackjob to carry the torch for them and thoroughly distort the issue. In her column today in TOWN HALL she writes.
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As expected, Todd Spencer and OOIDA quickly released a statement opposing any effort by the FMCSA and the Obama administration to comply with out obligation under NAFTA. Our non compliance having cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs and a significant amount of market share due to the perfectly legal retaliatory tariffs Mexico imposed for our non compliance. Here is OOIDA’s statement: (Our opinion appears in between the paragraphs)
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It didn’t take long for the opponents of Mexican trucks, or for that matter, anything Mexican to come out with their discredited rants opposing the US fulfilling its obligation to allow Mexican trucks access to US roadways in the same manner Canadian trucks have been allowed for more than 10 years. Teamster President James Hoffa was the first out of the chute with his tired sophomoric and overused rhetoric.
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SA Express News Editorial – Take action on truck program – End a self-defeating trade war with Mexico over NAFTA provision
Let’s see if I’ve got this right. James P. Hoffa of the Teamsters and Todd Spencer of OOIDA are correct in their opinions of Mexican trucks and 1400 plus trade associations, newspaper editors and business groups are wrong? And the aforementioned duo “speak” for the “majority” of Americans? I think not. The San Antonio Express News editorial board offered their opinion on the issue this morning.