| Wouldn't it be great if all those sneaking across the border now were auto workers.
|
Posted on 03/29/2009 2:31:32 AM PDT by Scanian
Anyone worried that, once in charge, Democrats wouldn't be vigilant in protecting our southern border can relax. The grave threat of Mexican long-haul truckers has been shut down. With any luck, Mexicans will never have the temerity to attempt to deliver commercial goods into the United States again.
At least such is the fervid hope of the Teamsters, the fiercest adversary the Mexicans have faced since President James K. Polk sent Winfield Scott south in the Mexican-American War. The union can't abide Mexican trucks because they represent competition, and so they must be blocked - legal obligations, economic rationality and diplomatic sense aside.
We agreed with Mexico in the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 to open the border states to Mexican trucking by 1995 and the entire country by 2000. Otherwise a fairly stalwart free-trader, former President Bill Clinton never delivered on that obligation. A NAFTA panel in 2001 ruled that we were in the wrong. Given how sacrosanct Democrats consider treaties, this should have settled the matter - if it weren't for the outsized power of the Teamsters.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
| Wouldn't it be great if all those sneaking across the border now were auto workers.
|
we need Mexicans to build the cars Americans won’t buy.The burning question is will the cars come stock with taco holders.
[chuckle]
Except that in this case, the Teamster border is 20 miles inside the United States.
The safety issue alone is enough to stop them!
I have seen Canadian truckers and rigs all over at least the eastern areas of the U.S.
I always wondered why we couldn't take a copy of that compact, scratch out "Canada" write in "Mexico" and tell them "sign here."
The safety issue is a red herring. Despite a ban on them dating from the 1980s, 800 Mexican trucks were allowed to continue operating in the United States. "A survey by the Arizona Republic newspaper found that those Mexican trucks allowed to operate in the U.S. have a superior safety record compared with U.S.-owned trucks," Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute writes. The Transportation Department also found no safety problem with the trucks here under the new pilot program.
There are no trucking laws in Mexico similar to US and Canada. Those are "select" trucks under the program. Have you witnessed the trucks coming over that stay within the 20 mile area? I have. They are rolling pieces of crap!
Also those trucks in the program are associated with US trucking companies. One of the largest truck load carriers in the US "Swift" has one of those trucking companies. They are not your average truck coming over the border.
Can anyone yet say how this initiative benefits America? Shaving a couple of pennies per ton of merchandise isn't a good enough answer.
Let's keep the Third World in the Third World and out of the United States.
The fact that no opponent of Mexican trucks has been able to prove it speaks volumes. Opponents have had more than ten years to do so.
Personally (and knowing that short-haul trucks are inherently more prone to safety violations and accidents than long-haulers), I believe that the numbers aren't showing-up because American short-haul trucks are also bringing down the curve.
I've seen my share of unsafe trucks on the road: just pull into the Steel City truck stop in Gary, Indiana or the Wyoming Truck Stop in Detroit, Michigan if you need to see examples. They were mostly short-haulers hauling scrap metal (and noticeable to me because the companies I worked-for generated scrap metal). If people (including the Teamsters) were truly concerned about safety, they'd be trying to get all of these trucks off the road, American, Mexican, and Canadian.
If shaving pennies isn't a good enough answer, then we should add a couple pennies and unload/reload the material more than than the four times under the current system. Think of the jobs that would create.
Another article with info on the safety record:
http://mexicotrucker.com/wall-street-journal-mexican-truck-stop
.....Earlier this year, the DOT analyzed the safety record of Mexican carriers in the U.S. from 2003-2006. It looked at the rate in which trucks received an “out-of-service” designation by DOT inspectors targeting companies with the worst records. The out-of-service rate for U.S. trucks was 23.5%, compared to a rate for trucks from Mexico of 21.29%. Mexican short-haul trucks operating in the border zone also had a better record than the U.S. trucks, with an out-of-service rate of 22.5%......
I believe I read on FR that the purpose of Mexican trucks in the US was to transport Chinese troops north on the NAFTA superhighway. I think it was a Corsi article. LOL
Eventually what will happen is the US will take over the Mexican government, and all of Mexico. The 51st state of Old Mexico. Just a part of the trilateral, one world government.
Sorry Mexico, you and your people will be assimilated and become irrelevant.
Maybe they were being repaired like the Mexican airline plane we rode on a few years ago.
While boarding an Aero Mexico plane in Houston bound for Cozumel, we laughed about the patch of duct tape covering the nose of the plane. On our trip back home we suspected it was the same plane because the duct tape was still visable through the fresh coat of paint on the nose of the plane.
That gentlemen, is why I don't want Mexican trucks on US highways.
Does the “out of service” mean that they were in the repair shop?
My understanding of ‘out of service’ is the truck/trailer doesn’t move with the load until the repairs are done.
Just look at the picture on the article page. How many cabovers do you seen running the US roads? They buy wore out US junk trucks and haul them to Mexico. Use bailing wire and whatever they can find and keep them going.
You can post all the articles and studies you want . I have seen it my own eyes.
Maybe they will run on re-fried beans too.
hummmmm and how are those repairs made?
“Donde es me duct tape?”
PREMEDITATED MERGER Mexican truck drivers take English exam in Spanish DOT chief's admission to Senate panel contradicts administration's assurances
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=58843
Whatever..... I’m more leary of the nuts running up and down the interstate with a cell phone glued to their ear than I am of the trucks. I’m seeing a lot of trucks pulled over along I-10 now with the trailer doors open and the DPS inspecting the cargo. Looking for drugs is my guess.
They can’t even pass the English proficiency clause.
Then they shouldn’t be given a permit to come to the interior. Enforce the guidelines, insurance, safety, etc and that is the responsibility of the US inspectors who are charged with that job. Maybe they aren’t doing their job I guess is what you are saying.
There is no unload/reload. Instead, they do what in the trucking industry is known as a drop and hook. Mexicans bring the trailer to the border zone, drop it there, and then U.S. drivers pick it up for shipment into the U.S.
This adds a couple of pennies per ton of merchandise, as I said. Don't worry, though. An idea this bad will have to come true.
This idea comes from NAFTA, as I'm sure you know, so I suggest you look up the statistics on what's happened to our trade deficit with Mexico since then. We got taken for a ride, and the ride goes on.
Have an accident? No insurance. Get out of the truck and run like hell. No responsibility.
Have you never driven in Mexico?
Nope..... I don’t go across the border. But we are talking US travel not Mexico. Set the rules, enforce them or get inspectors, etc. that will.
All of the things I described I have seen in south Texas as well as in Mexico, including the running away from an accident. It was in Freer Texas, a truck full of melons turned over and spilled at a highway intersection and the driver took off running. We don’t go to Mexico anymore either, but Mexico is here now.
How did the duct tape repairs on the Aero Mexico plane pass the US inspectors?
Don’t know. Maybe graft but if so that would work on any airline, US, Mexico or other wouldn’t it? I just want the rules enforced for all as they should be. If the rules aren’t enforced whose fault is that, not the truckers or airlines but the enforcement agencies.
I think it's likely you are correct that there are no significant safety problem with the first 100 Mexican trucks. And I concede that, assuming that US inspectors enforce the standards for the trucks and don't stop doing so at some time, the trucks themselves would be OK.
I have a concern with future Mexican drivers that could be brought into the program. What is the maximum number of Mexican drivers could be allowed under the treaty eventually? The fact is that when the police in Mexico stop a driver, the driver pays the mordida and there is no record of the incident. If you don't believe me, ask a Mexican.
If the number of Mexican drivers increases to (e.g.) 5,000 they will have to bring in new drivers. I don't understand how they think they are going to evaluate driver safety when there are no real records. There are many bad driving habits that are very common in Mexico and are currently very rare in the US (although these are likely to become more common as more illegal aliens come in), for example:
Passing on a mountain road when the driver cannot see oncoming traffic (oncoming vehicles which are smaller than the passing vehicles traffic are expected to slow down or get out of the way if they can)
Drunk driving. We have too much of it here, but it's much worse in Mexico.
No, they should not be in this country at all! Just as US truckers have to follow Canadian laws crossing the border, they should too. No 20 mile exemption BS!
Enforce the guidelines, insurance, safety, etc and that is the responsibility of the US inspectors who are charged with that job.
Impossible because there laws are not similar to ours to start with.
I'll spell it out for you. Mexico has no driver qualification laws. No vehicle inspection and maintenance laws. No Drug testing laws. No hours of service laws. No record keeping laws. And on and on.
There is absolutely no way for US inspectors to know if they are following our guidelines because they have NO guidelines.
Canada has a reasonable expectation that a driver and vehicle coming over the border is compliant because our laws are similar. The total opposite is true with an Mexican truck and driver.
"My main concern is safety," Dorgan emphasized. "We've established that there are no equivalencies between Mexican trucks and U.S. trucks. There are no equivalent safety standards. Mexico has no reliable database for vehicle inspections, accident reports or driver's records.
There is just no way for the Mexican trucking companies to comply with our laws to start with .
Yep.... guess there are just things in this world that can’t be accomplished. No use trying as it just can’t be done.... LOL
If that were true then you wouldn't be pro-Obama on kicking out the first 100-trucks.
What makes you think I haven't? The scrap metal trucks I saw without brake lights were the worst. And they'd always be leaving the plant in the evening when I did. I say anyone who thinks the Mexicans have a corner on unsafe trucks are smoking Mexican ditchweed.
Because the statistics on safety don't count, got it. Why don't I go ahead and post some data on sunspot activity? People will believe anything they see.
Someone once explained to me on one of these threads that Mexican trucks have no trailer brakes. If that was really the case, imagine how much better a Mexican truck driver is than his American counterpart. LOL
"We've established it, and we don't have to prove it. People will believe anything they read."
Such as, a driver who speaks French and operates on the metric system?
You mean, we've been letting unsafe Mexican trailers operate on our roads since, well, almost forever?
"We've established it, and we don't have to prove it. People will believe anything they read."
LOL What the Congressman said is truthful.Mexico has no national database for vehicle inspections, accident reports or drivers records. The US does. Canada does!
Ping!
It might, it might not. But since the Mexican truck has to satisfy FMCSA regulations to get its USDOT number, the point is moot.
I will resist the urge to call you the name that pops into my mind, because you seem to be more intelligent than that, but let's take it easy on the strawman approach.
In the first place, it's not clear what Obama really wants to do about the trucks. He did sign the bill, but he is only too happy to sacrifice Mexican trucks to get the massive leftist agenda funded. IMO it's likely he will restore the Mexican truck program eventually. Hillary and LaHood are making noises that hint that's what he really wants. Congress can reinstate the program very quickly if it wants to.
In the second place, if you think that the US should continue fighting in Afghanistan for a while at least, I could call you "pro-Obama" because that is what he says he is going to do. To do so, of course, would be preposterous.
If you are going to insult me, don't make it a lame insult like "pro-Obama."
Notice he said Mexico has no real database of accident reports or drivers records. So the drivers have to have a "Licencia Federal," and the FMCSA bureaucrats check it off their list. Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better.
I believe the Mexican CDL is called a "Licencia Federal de Conductor."
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They are auto workers. With the government takeover of General Motors, we need Mexicans to build the cars Americans won't buy.