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Sep 09
Leaving his terminal in Monterrey Mexico shortly before 6 pm Friday, Luis Gonzalez headed north, unsure what awaited him as he became the first Mexican driver to participate in the Demonstration program.
Arriving at the border about 10 pm, he was met by officials of the Texas DPS and FMCSA, which because of the occasion, took Gonzalez and his rig to the head of the line for a thorough inspection lasting almost 2 hours.
The one thing Gonzalez did not care for were all the cameras and questions awaiting him. He shuns the celebrity as most Mexican drivers would.
The inspection covering all items for a CVSA Level I inspection were checked and then some. The air pressure in the tires, an item ignored during an inspection on a U.S. truck, brakes, drivers documents, licenses, Visas, cargo and cargo securement. All passed with flying colors as expected. And there is no reason to think nor a need to subject subsequent trucks to the two hour publicity inspection in the future.
Gonzalez said
“Revisaron todo. El aire de las llantas, los frenos, que toda la mercancía estuviera bien sujetada y todo lo pasamos muy bien.
“Hay diferentes niveles de revisión. La uno, es la más estricta y es la que nos aplicaron”
(They inspected everything. The air in the tires, the brakes, and the merchandise. Everything was subjected and passed very well)
(There are different levels of inspection and this one is the most restrictive and it was the one given)
After clearing Customs and Inspection at the border, Gonzalez headed north. Fernando Paez, 40 year old owner of Transportes Olympic who had followed Gonzalez up from Monterrey, finally turned around and left for the return to Monterrey once they had cleared the internal CBP checkpoint and made a quick stop at Love’s Travel Center in Encinal.
Gonzalez continued his trip to Von Ormey Texas, arriving at 0430 where he took his required 10 hour break.
Yesterday, Gonzalez began a new day, hauling the first load permitted under the demonstration program to a customer in Wilson Hills, N.C.
The load of structural steel, from Regionmontana Building Systems in Monterrey is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.
Fernando Paez, owner of Transportes Olympic, stated he is looking at his options for a return load to Monterrey for one of his established customers.
Congratulation Luis and welcome to the U.S. brother.
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I heard you on a recent XM radio interview and you stated that it was likely that the Mexican drivers would initially go only into Texas until they developed routes.
Based on the fact that this driver is headed all the way to North Carolina I guess those routes have been established. I am not a truck driver but cannot help but wonder how this will effect the economics of the American drivers. In the past wouldn’t an American driver have had to take the load from Texas to its final destination? And if this is the case then doesn’t this end up causing American drivers to lose loads?
This goes against what you were saying during your interview and, while I was impressed with your ability to get your message across, now I am left questioning the authenticity of that entire message.
Jim, What I stated on the interview was an assumption before knowing who the initial carrier would be.
Apparently, Mr Paez has been working towards this day for many years and his customer, Regiomontana Building Products had a load for North Carolina and he took it.
Not known to any of us was that his second truck, the only two authorized under the program for his company, crossed the border in Reynosa with a load for New York state the previous day.
According to reports today, both of these trucks will be reloading in Arkansas and Alabama for the trip back to Monterrey. Hell of a deadhead, wouldn’t you think? I would not make it nor would most of us.But I also imagine that because of where their reload is, that they are taking steel back to their customer in Monterrey.
I think with the information available, that I made a valid assumption but we all know what happens when we assume.
You could say it would cause American drivers to lose loads but consider this. The freight coming across the southern border enjoys a 4% average increase every year and none of us down here see that trend reversing. In Laredo, we have freight sitting in forwarders warehouses looking for trucks to haul it and at a decent rate too.
The trucks sitting down here are the ones from the medium to mega companies who are waiting for their trailer to return from Mexico.
If you look on the Melton Transportation yard, there are 20 or more trailers loaded and waiting to be powered and hauled.
The same holds true for other American carriers such as Warren out of Waterloo Iowa and TCI out of the RGV.
And what others are ignoring as they continue to push their agendas and accuse every Mexican truck with dual registration of being in the country illegally is that there are more than 800 Mexican motor carriers and bus operators legally permitted to operate anywhere in the U.S. because they were here prior to the border closure in 1982. These carriers, small operations have had zero effect on the American trucking industry and have been ignored by the Teamsters, OOIDA and the public watchdog groups, mainly because they have not presented a safety or economic problem.
Bottom line is none of us, myself included can say definitively what the effects of this program will be. We can only sit back and watch it develop. But what we can do, again as I do, is look at the facts presented, the statistics available and make an unbiased assessment of the probably outcome.
Thanks for you comment.