Latest on Mexican Trucks Issue

MissouriNewbie · Sep 1, 2007

I belive that we have enough regulations in place I mean for my age im a good driver compared to some of my counterparts. I mean im not saying im super trucker but I do my part to operate my truck safely as possible and do what I have to do to get my cargo to where it needs to be. I agree it dont matter where your from there are Poor Drivers every where. From my experience This is one of the hardest industries to go any where in because like me I have Class A CDL but minimum experience driving a Semi and more driving the straight truck People lagh in my face about driving a Semi. HA son you don't have the experience. But in fact I can pass there stupid tests. but never the less I just think that its not wise for the economy its going down hill as it is where as when I drove a semi for swift we hauled loads to the border all the time well now thats mileage that will be passed to mexican drivers for back hauls why cant they just get their crap at the border!

pelicn · Sep 2, 2007

Fox news is reporting on it now. Finally, mainstream news media is picking up on the issues that the trucking industry has been talking about for months!

OntarioVanMan · Sep 2, 2007

"why cant they just get their crap at the border!"

That "crap" you are referring to there is alot of U.S. and Canadian made auto parts made by Americans and Canadians right here!! They will come back as cars and trucks "assembled" in Mexico and they will be serviced here in America by Americans..Canada by Canadians!

And again I'll ask...WHY don't we just take "some" of it into Mexico instead of crossdocking???

Tennesseahawk · Sep 2, 2007

That's because they've had more important news to report... like foot tapping in a men's bathroom.

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

jasonsprouse · Sep 2, 2007

Do you really "want" to take freight into Mexico? Or to put it another way, do you want to take yourself and your valuable truck (and valuable American dollars) into Mexico to be held hostage by the police or worse?

Jefferson3000 · Sep 2, 2007

>I can only imagine the paranoia back when the first Canadian
>trucks could take freight out of the U.S. Did the sky
>fall???
==================================================

No it didn't fall. Part of that is surely due to the fact that Canada has a similar economic state to the US. It's the difference between going into business with your brother who may at least have a similar economic structure and background to yours, as opposed to striking a business deal with a homeless guy.

I know that that last statement sounds harsh, but please just think about it for a few.

Drive Safe!

Jeff

Driver for 15 years
O/O for 13 years
OOIDA #829119

[em]"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed." --Mark Twain[/em]

Tennesseahawk · Sep 2, 2007

Jefferson... if that ain't hittin the nail on the head...

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

pelicn · Sep 2, 2007

I've read that the Mexican trucks will have to adhere to US standards and compliance, that being said, how often do you pass CLOSED weigh stations? Not that I want to be inspected all the time, but if they aren't open to inspect the US trucks with any regularity, then the Mexican trucks won't be inspected with any regularity either.
Wait, they will be the first few months, but after that, it'll be business as usual.

I still believe that all of this will open the door for lower wages for all. If a company can hire someone to do the job for pennies, why pay a dollar?

Turtle · Sep 2, 2007

If you go back and take a look, the initial groundwork for this started with Jimmy Carter, actually.

In any event, do not look for much in the way of enforcement. This thing is being rammed down the throats of the American People, against the will of Congress, even, and with little or no mainstream media coverage. The mainstream media is not exactly famous for snuggling up to this or any other republican administration, so why they are laying off this one is only conjecture.

But look at the timing. This is a one-year pilot program, which will be signed off on as being successful in one year, by the current president, just before the November elections. Any delay in the start of this program puts the affirmation in the hands of an uncertain future president. This will be deemed an unprecedented success, regardless.

The first 2 or 3 months every cream-of-the-crop Mexican driver coming into this country will have all their ducks in a row, be able to read, write and fluently speak English, you name it. After that, what little public outrage that existed will be long forgotten, and then it begins for real. There will be little in the way of enforcement, or at the very least little or no reporting of any enforcement problems. When a Mexican truck runs over a van load of people, it will be reported as just another big truck-involved fatality, with the country of origin of the truck never being mentioned. US trucks will travel into Mexico, but the drivers of those trucks will largely be Mexican.

Once the door is opened, it will stay open. The only thing that will derail the program is if a Mexican truck gets into an accident and is found to be hauling dozens of bipeds.

Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

x06col · Sep 2, 2007

Yes, he typed bipeds. We already have many, many non-english speakers on our roads. Why? I can't regurgitate stats of how many they many have killed, or, maimed but, I know for sure that our local service shop looks under the truck for holes in the floor, and toilet paper hanging off frame rails, airlines, etc. before they will run the truck in the shop anymore when someone questionable shows up. Point is. It's just not a bad thing for one, or, two reasons. But, some of them are good also. So whom ya gonna stop, and who's going to stop them.

cheri1122 · Sep 2, 2007

The current issue of Landline illuminates some of the major reasons that that this is a very bad program. For one, during the annual CVSA Roadcheck, (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, along with the FMCSA, Pipeline & HazMat Safety Alliance, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, & the Secretariat of Communications and Transport in Mexico), the US conducted 49,454 inspections during the June 5-7 event, putting 21.5% of drivers OOS. Canada inspected 7,275 vehicles, (no numbers given on OOS percentage), and Mexico inspected 139 vehicles, placing 10 OOS. These numbers are a pretty good indication of why we don't trust Mexican trucks, or the drivers, to be safe.
Another reason is the language barrier. According to Landline, a Public Safety official admitted that "non-English speaking drivers are often allowed to pass (safety inspections)as long as the inspections don't reveal other problems" and Lt Bernie Gadzik of the Arizona Dept of Public Safety said "I can't give you any hard numbers, but we do have a number of drivers who don't speak enough English to properly be operating a commercial vehicle"
So, in two of the primary routes from Mexico into the U S, inspectors don't consider an inability to speak English to be enough of a safety hazard to put the drivers OOS, or even, in Arizona, to keep track of how many they encounter - truly scary potatoes.
This is another in such a long list of outrageous examples of our elected representatives selling out our best interests, that we can't digest the full implications of one, much less act to prevent it, before another occurs.

mystictrans · Sep 2, 2007

I do not agree that the Mexican drivers will all speak english, as you can notice now that the green card holding mexican drivers(of wich there are hundreds driving in the southern states) who do NOT speak english.
I have seen them many times in the feul stops, buying several packs of mini thins, and chasing them with 5 hour energy drinks trying to stay up for days on end(you know there is no drug testing in Mexico!)Plus untill they cross our border they do not have to comply with the HOS rules(again they have none in Mexico!)
How many of you or drivers have you ment that are in the trucking industry because of lay offs, downsizing and so on?A lot of people have come into this business because it seemed virtually lay off proof.A good job that could not be "out sourced to cheap labor from Mexico" . But Bush found away to out source it ayway.
Last month a bi-partisan vote in congress voted to cut off all money for the pilot program. An King George(at least he thinks he is king)waited till the congress was in recess to due and end run around them. So much for checks and balances!But you have to admit..W is the best president Mexico has ever had!

Moot · Sep 2, 2007

Jefferson... if that ain't hittin the nail on the head...

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

I concur! It is the disparity in economics that is the real issue. But the paradox is until Mexico is on an even status.........?

MissouriNewbie · Sep 3, 2007

my opinion is the "american auto makers" should stay american the only reason the cars are assembled down there is the cheap labor.

slfisher45 · Sep 3, 2007

>I do not agree that the Mexican drivers will all speak
>english, as you can notice now that the green card holding
>mexican drivers(of wich there are hundreds driving in the
>southern states) who do NOT speak english.
> I have seen them many times in the feul stops, buying
>several packs of mini thins, and chasing them with 5 hour
>energy drinks trying to stay up for days on end(you know
>there is no drug testing in Mexico!)Plus untill they cross
>our border they do not have to comply with the HOS
>rules(again they have none in Mexico!)
> How many of you or drivers have you ment that are in the
>trucking industry because of lay offs, downsizing and so
>on?A lot of people have come into this business because it
>seemed virtually lay off proof.A good job that could not be
>"out sourced to cheap labor from Mexico" . But Bush found
>away to out source it ayway.
> Last month a bi-partisan vote in congress voted to cut
>off all money for the pilot program. An King George(at least
>he thinks he is king)waited till the congress was in recess
>to due and end run around them. So much for checks and
>balances!But you have to admit..W is the best president
>Mexico has ever had!
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mystic trans, I believe you missed the point. You are comparing current drivers in the US to the program drivers that may come into the US representing Bushes FOLLY.
When you want people to see your shoes you polish them.

csands007 · Sep 3, 2007

They most likely will be educated college professors with polished shoes driving then. To think Mexican drivers speaking the English language better than we.
Chuck

Oilerman1957 · Sep 3, 2007

Just my opinion here, but this is just another attack on the working man wages. Look at what has happened to the wages of the autoworker, the steelworker, the textile worker, the airline worker, the coal worker. Only place left for a laborer to make a living is in trucking. The attack has now begun on truck drivers. To bad we didnt all band together when they first attacked labor.

cheri1122 · Sep 3, 2007

I think the "attacks on labor" pretty much began in the late 1800's, so most of us weren't born yet...:+

csands007 · Sep 3, 2007

Feel he meant the attack on labor that started in the 1970's in construction and since they busted the Airlines
Chuck

letzrockexpress · Sep 3, 2007

I have to believe this "experiment" with our friends south of the border will be short lived. The first time some soccer mom in an SUV full of kids get smacked head on by some broke down ramshackle truck with a driver who has been driving for three sleepless days straight, hopped up on who knows what, that will be the end of it.