Its official as USA and Mexico sign pact to screw American truckers

[greg334]

Xiggi,
No disrespect but I have yet seen one reason why I should be worried and feel that the only thing that will not happen is the due to the teamsters will not be collected.

With all that we have to face on the road as truck drivers, the one thing that is on the bottom of my list is the Mexican truck. I worry about the people who are retired and making pocket change driving the rates down and then I am worried about the safety of everyone with the crap drivers on the road. I don't and won't fall for the BS that OOIDA, Teamsters and other organizations are saying because for one important thing they have either refused to back up their claims with fact or refused to provide references to their claims.

One such claim is the licensing system that Mexico has. I contacted our local Mexican embassy and asked for information on their truck licensing program and got a crap load of stuff in English. The two things that stick out are how they go about their training and how they actually conduct physicals and drug tests. We don't have a drug testing information center - THEY DO. AS I said if these programs were in place here, a lot of us would not be on the road.

The other thing is the investment being made to conform to our standards for compliance is not cheap. I don't expect to see the crap I already see on the road but equipment that is equal to a properly maintained truck. I already seen this afternoon two trucks heading into Canada that were plated from Mexico. I bet those drivers were not getting 3 pesos an hour. The truck was a nice Volvo with a really nice trailer.

The one other thing puzzles me is the claim the teamsters make. They make the claim that we will lose jobs and they are fighting for American jobs. THOSE jobs I found out are union due paying jobs that the US companies have employing Mexican nationals to do cross border and warehouse work. Funny that the word American Worker keeps popping up but how does Mexican Nationals fit into those words?

 

[layoutshooter]

Why are US truck drivers be FORCED to subsidize Mexican (ATA owned companies) EOBR's? We either quit driving and buying fuel, OR, send our road tax money to Mexico to help them (ATA owned companies) run freight that could have been cross docked.

Why can't they pay for their OWN EOBR's? I have to pay $35 per week if I want to run with FDCC and soon ALL US trucks will have the same requirement. Why should we pay for ours AND theirs? Level playing field? NO WAY!

 

[paullud]

Xiggi,
No disrespect but I have yet seen one reason why I should be worried and feel that the only thing that will not happen is the due to the teamsters will not be collected.

If you can't figure out one reason to be worried you are completely oblivious or you just like to take the opposing view in any debate you can. You are telling me you can't see the number of people that will lose their jobs, not only drivers but all the warehouse workers as well.

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[greg334]

If you can't figure out one reason to be worried you are completely oblivious or you just like to take the opposing view in any debate you can. You are telling me you can't see the number of people that will lose their jobs, not only drivers but all the warehouse workers as well.

OK I can admit job loses but I can't even consider how this will "decimate the trucking industry as we know it" because it won't happen.

The problem is not the Mexican trucks, we can see that some - NOT all - freight will go on them as they do with Canadian trucks but I don't see how the warehouses and other related jobs will just vanish. I do see the ibg box driver being the one who gets replaced. Those who are in the revolving door and don't really need to go through 4 weeks of school, 10 hours of road time and pass the practical test just to be fired 6 months later.

BUT when we talk about this subject, many will point to lost trucking jobs, others will point to lost revenue for doing something now that Mexicans could do, but a lot of people fall for the BS lines that the Teamsters and others have been putting out to scare people with. See you have to dig deep past the boilerplate articles and the retread info to find Hoffa and a few others B*TCHING they can't organize in Mexico. You can find out how their system works and you can figure out that this is not a country of stupid backwards people who can't figure out how to use a toilet, let alone understand how to properly drive a truck. It, like a few other countries, has its share of good schools, doctors, lawyers and scientist. A lot of people I met were not just literate in their own language but others too.

The fact is that the many Mexicans who choose the career that we have chosen are not doing this just to fill a seat or make a fast buck but rather seem to be the same committed people who on this side of the border are striving for more than just a job. If we want to improve our industry, we need to first fight against our internal problems to improve our performance which means stop crying about EOBRs, CSA and so on and start getting rid of the deadwood, the poor driver and making sure that the image of trucking isn't the idiot who slams into a train or a bus full of kids.

Layout, call your congressman Dingle and our senators and ask them why. I wasn't on the commitee to approve this, nor was I in congress to vote on it. It is something that is just ... just there. I also can't tell you what to do with FedEx, I think getting all the contractors together and complaining about it would be the best thing to do but because you and others make money with the tools they require you to have, it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[layoutshooter]

OK I can admit job loses but I can't even consider how this will "decimate the trucking industry as we know it" because it won't happen.

The problem is not the Mexican trucks, we can see that some - NOT all - freight will go on them as they do with Canadian trucks but I don't see how the warehouses and other related jobs will just vanish. I do see the ibg box driver being the one who gets replaced. Those who are in the revolving door and don't really need to go through 4 weeks of school, 10 hours of road time and pass the practical test just to be fired 6 months later.

BUT when we talk about this subject, many will point to lost trucking jobs, others will point to lost revenue for doing something now that Mexicans could do, but a lot of people fall for the BS lines that the Teamsters and others have been putting out to scare people with. See you have to dig deep past the boilerplate articles and the retread info to find Hoffa and a few others B*TCHING they can't organize in Mexico. You can find out how their system works and you can figure out that this is not a country of stupid backwards people who can't figure out how to use a toilet, let alone understand how to properly drive a truck. It, like a few other countries, has its share of good schools, doctors, lawyers and scientist. A lot of people I met were not just literate in their own language but others too.

The fact is that the many Mexicans who choose the career that we have chosen are not doing this just to fill a seat or make a fast buck but rather seem to be the same committed people who on this side of the border are striving for more than just a job. If we want to improve our industry, we need to first fight against our internal problems to improve our performance which means stop crying about EOBRs, CSA and so on and start getting rid of the deadwood, the poor driver and making sure that the image of trucking isn't the idiot who slams into a train or a bus full of kids.

Layout, call your congressman Dingle and our senators and ask them why. I wasn't on the commitee to approve this, nor was I in congress to vote on it. It is something that is just ... just there. I also can't tell you what to do with FedEx, I think getting all the contractors together and complaining about it would be the best thing to do but because you and others make money with the tools they require you to have, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Call Dingellberry? What a JOKE!! I doubt the congress voted on it any way. There is no longer a need for congress.

Don't worry, you will pay for THEIRS just as I do, and when the times comes and ALL US trucks are required to have the "electric nannys", you WILL pay for your's as well. Call YOUR congressman and find out why, mine won't EVER answer. Neither will Carl "Marx" Levin or Debbie Stabthemnow.

 

[paullud]

this is not a country of stupid backwards people who can't figure out how to use a toilet

Hahaha funny you should use this as an example it shows you are talking out of one of your parts that uses a toilet, try a little research if you don't understand it. As far as warehouse jobs going away why are companies going to cross dock now when they can pay a lower rate to a Mexican driver? Why should we pay to put thousands of people out of work?

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[RETIDEPXE]

Article I read, believe in "trucker news" a month or so ago. A long time custom's broker in S. TX commented what he sees will happen; the Mexican owned trucking companies will be opening up shop in places like Laredo with nice upgraded equipment and put Mexican nationals in them to drive the US side only as they can ill afford to let the good trucks sit waiting for 8 hrs plus at a time to cross into the US from Mexico, not to mention the risks and damage that can occur running the Mexican roads. Many of these older trucks have no air, there are no facilities and the drivers have to put up with it in the 100 degree plus heat day in and day out. Leave that up to the old POS's that run over there and go straight back into Mexico after dropping at a cross dock. Makes sense when you think about it.

Hopefully there will still be enough freight to go around, considering the predicted US driver shortages coming. I do, however, dislike having to fund a lot of it, i.e. EOBRs, etc. As a team in a straight truck w/ Panther, we have never had a problem getting out of Laredo so far, and always good miles going in and coming out. Maybe I'll see you at "The Coyote" for fajitas next time.......

 

[fortwayne]

Greg334......you r as wrong as wrong can be. All USA drivers r drug tested and any failed drug test is reported.
Wake up...you have some Mexican embassy official tell you all this BS they do on educating, training and testing their drivers and you buy into their BS and you fail to mention their education, training and testing of their drivers does not meet our standards we have here.
We get it, you hate the unions, you hate the fact that not all of us want to wear a skirt and scream politically correct statements.
The fact....Mexican drivers have more accidents per 100,000 trucks than American drivers.....source is the DOT.
Fact....more Mexican drivers have criminal convictions than American drivers....source is A DOJ study in 2006.
So...we get it....you support the Mexicans taking freight off your truck.....oh I'm sorry my truck.


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[idtrans]

Wow the Mexican Expedited trucks are heavy looking ! And man they really secure the loads! Wonder if the truck has a quallcom?

Wonder what the GVW is of this awesome looking straight truck ?

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Hey idtrans, guess what?

 

[greg334]

As I said it is my belief that the problems these trucks will cause are minute compared to the problems we face with our own poorly trained unprofessional idiot drivers and if we can't as an industry get our sh*t together to get rid of these people, then what's the difference who ends up on our roads?

By the way, I wasn't told a thing, I was sent over a a by bundle of stuff including a handbook which is 350 pages and that details a lot of their licensing and regulations. Comparing ours and theirs, we have not one training standard that we have to follow, ANYONE can take the written test then take the practical NON-uniformed test and that is it. Crap we have people who never ever drove a truck right here on this forum go and rent one to practice and than get a CDL. From what I read and I have been told they do require class room training, road time and it is a federal license, not a state license.

I won't detail the medical exam because our medical exams are a joke, I can detail that if you really want from my experience and I for one don't want to go to a DOT clinic to be just another number BUT want to be told how to improve my life on the road or if they find something to direct me to proper medical help.

AND truck inspections are also a joke, which includes some state DOT inspections I've been through.

By the way the drug testing is also a problem, we pee in a cup and the results are sent off but is that the right pee - if you know what I'm getting at. I read, and told they draw blood in Mexico which means NO CHEATING. There is no uniformed DOT database that keeps that testing information but we have a reactive system that is triggered by two events, a positive and a refusal.

When Mexican trucks are rolling on the road, they will be inspected more thoroughly than ours, the driver will be scrutinized carefully and it will not be Juan and his 1979 Ford cabover with 2 million miles to deliver tortillas.

I don't hate all unions, I hate unions that lie about issues like this without revealing their motives - which is the dues money generate. The fact that the teamsters can not organize south of the border is a big deal for them AND if you have forgotten, this is the same union who wants to legalize the invaders who came here for jobs and have taken jobs away from Americans by making it cheaper for employers to hire them. Kind of hypocritical, isn't it.

So let's address those stats.

Mexican drivers have more accidents per 100,000 trucks than American drivers

What drivers?

If we are talking about accidents north of the border, ok then how can that be if they are not driving trucks?

I looked all over for numbers to put on that stat but could not find it. HOWEVER I found in the reports from the DOT inspector general their findings which I have not ever seen quoted anywhere. IT is a report on border crossings and in random selection of trucks (and buses) crossing the southern borders during 2007 through 2009, the Mexican trucks maintained a 90% compliance rate AND the overall compliance was 6% over that of their American counter parts. THIS did not include the NAFTA cross border pilot program numbers but it is pretty interesting to think that the junk they moved over here was 90% complaint. The report was done as part of the inspection of the FMCSA they have been doing because the FMCSA is so screwed up.

more Mexican drivers have criminal convictions than American drivers....source is A DOJ study in 2006.

AND?

In Canada, if you are caught drunk driving, it is a felony - right?

SO that means by using Canadian standards, we have more US drivers who have criminal convictions than Canadian drivers, right?

The point is that without taking in account what the crimes are, it is not a worthy stat. AND to also bring up a sore point, we don't discriminate against felons.

you support the Mexicans taking freight off your truck.....oh I'm sorry my truck.

Nope I don't support Mexican trucks taking freight off of anyone's truck, I support a reasonable and truthful conversation about the issue without the bullsh*t that is used from sources of information that have no real credible backing of what they are saying - the OOIDA and the teamsters. Neither of these groups and others have actually NEVER explained what honestly goes on south of the border but they tell us how uneducated and unprofessional the Mexican driver is which I can't believe.

BUT before that, I support cleaning up our own industry to make sure we can fight things TOGETHER without looking like a bunch of crying idiots. Right now, we do. Right now the public doesn't see a cohesive group on this or any other subject that we face.

 

[fortwayne]

As I said it is my belief that the problems these trucks will cause are minute compared to the problems we face with our own poorly trained unprofessional idiot drivers and if we can't as an industry get our sh*t together to get rid of these people, then what's the difference who ends up on our roads?]

So if we can't get one American idiot off the road put two Mexicans on our road.

[By the way, I wasn't told a thing, I was sent over a a by bundle of stuff including a handbook which is 350 pages and that details a lot of their licensing and regulations. Comparing ours and theirs, we have not one training standard that we have to follow, ANYONE can take the written test then take the practical NON-uniformed test and that is it. Crap we have people who never ever drove a truck right here on this forum go and rent one to practice and than get a CDL. From what I read and I have been told they do require class room training, road time and it is a federal license, not a state license. ]

Sounds like you want more control by our federal government.


[I read, and told they draw blood in Mexico which means NO CHEATING. There is no uniformed DOT database that keeps that testing information but we have a reactive system that is triggered by two events, a positive and a refusal. ]

Drawing blood does not assure there is no cheating on the person taking the sample...aka bribes.

[When Mexican trucks are rolling on the road, they will be inspected more thoroughly than ours, the driver will be scrutinized carefully and it will not be Juan and his 1979 Ford cabover with 2 million miles to deliver tortillas. ]

There is nothing in the agreement that says Mexican trucks will be inspected more thoroughly than ours. You are added your opinion here and inserting tour own level of BS.

[I don't hate all unions, I hate unions that lie about issues like this without revealing their motives - which is the dues money generate.]

So what is your motive in holding hands with Mexico? Afterall, if you demand to hear the unions motive you should tell us yours.
Hell my reason being against this is simple.....it is destructive to the American work force. Common sense would tell you that it will be more coat effective to have a Mexican scab wheel holder load in Mexico drive to Detroit and reload and return to tacoville, than to have an American trucker perform the same job.


[Nope I don't support Mexican trucks taking freight off of anyone's truck, I support a reasonable and truthful conversation about the issue without the bullsh*t that is used from sources of information that have no real credible backing of what they are saying - the OOIDA and the teamsters. Neither of these groups and others have actually NEVER explained what honestly goes on south of the border but they tell us how uneducated and unprofessional the Mexican driver is which I can't believe.

BUT before that, I support cleaning up our own industry to make sure we can fight things TOGETHER without looking like a bunch of crying idiots. Right now, we do. Right now the public doesn't see a cohesive group on this or any other subject that we face.

But yet you offer no clear suggestions on how we can clean up our industry.
I however have. Don't add to our problems by allowing Mexican trucks on American highways.
Stop pulling funds from states placing them into a situation of laying off dot inspectors.
Hours of service should have no tie in with dock time aka detention time.
The EPA should have no say at all in regards to the trucking industry.
Laws governing freight brokers and forwarders should become more restrictive aka by increasing the cost of their authority and their bond.
I feel alot of our problems all comes back to money. We are so regulated that we are pushed to the limit of the laws....thus safety becomes a secondary issue
Bottom line is we need an ease of regulations strangling the driver. We need to see an HOS rewrite in regards to detention at the docks, stronger rules in regards to brokers and the huge fees they keep and the insurance bonds they have to carry which provides no real substance.



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[skyraider]

But yet you offer no clear suggestions on how we can clean up our industry.
I however have. Don't add to our problems by allowing Mexican trucks on American highways.
Stop pulling funds from states placing them into a situation of laying off dot inspectors.
Hours of service should have no tie in with dock time aka detention time.
The EPA should have no say at all in regards to the trucking industry.
Laws governing freight brokers and forwarders should become more restrictive aka by increasing the cost of their authority and their bond.
I feel alot of our problems all comes back to money. We are so regulated that we are pushed to the limit of the laws....thus safety becomes a secondary issue
Bottom line is we need an ease of regulations strangling the driver. We need to see an HOS rewrite in regards to detention at the docks, stronger rules in regards to brokers and the huge fees they keep and the insurance bonds they have to carry which provides no real substance.



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Why would a person continue a career in trucking as a driver when the HOS cause so many headaches,frustrate drivers to fighting at the next exit,waiting in lines for fuel,food,and showers,eating junk food most of the time, low pay for starting newbies( 28cpm or worse ), pay some truck driving school 6000 dollars to learn how to steer a truck, jerk around with logs,dot inspectors, etc. ???????????? Only God knows the answer.

 

[AMonger]

Why would a person continue a career in trucking as a driver when the HOS cause so many headaches,frustrate drivers to fighting at the next exit,waiting in lines for fuel,food,and showers,eating junk food most of the time, low pay for starting newbies( 28cpm or worse ), pay some truck driving school 6000 dollars to learn how to steer a truck, jerk around with logs,dot inspectors, etc. ???????????? Only God knows the answer.

I sometimes wonder that, too...until I see all the trucks rolling while I'm sitting.