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Sep 5, 2009

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DISCUSSIONS * USA - Hoffa says IG report shows Mexican border should remain closed

Wednesday’s report noted the FMCSA had met six of the eight criteria and had “substantially” met two others — having adequate capacity at the southern border to conduct meaningful inspections and having sufficient databases to allow safety monitoring of Mexican carriers and drivers

Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker, by Lyndon Finney -4 Sept 2009: -- Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said Thursday, that an inspector general report shows once and for all that the border should remain closed to unsafe Mexican trucks... The report, issued Wednesday, covers eight safety criteria related to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers potentially operating beyond narrow commercial zones along the border... Wednesday’s report noted the FMCSA had met six of the eight criteria and had “substantially” met two others — having adequate capacity at the southern border to conduct meaningful inspections and having sufficient databases to allow safety monitoring of Mexican carriers and drivers... Hoffa said that Mexican trucks should not be allowed to travel on U.S. highways until the U.S. implements a comprehensive inspection program and the Mexican government ensures that hours-of-service rules are enforced, that Mexican drivers meet the same qualifications as U.S. drivers and that drug and alcohol testing facilities are brought up to U.S. standards... The Mexican government slapped tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of goods after the pilot program was shut down. Hoffa said the retaliatory tariffs are unfair and disproportionate... "Anyone who drives on U.S. roads should be required to obey U.S. safety laws," Hoffa said. "The Mexican government is wrong if it thinks NAFTA should give it the right to send dangerous trucks onto our highways. Mexico must meet its end of the bargain. For the last 15 years, it hasn't even tried. The U.S. Trade Representative should be challenging these unfair tariffs"... (Photo from rita.dot.gov, by Robert Harrison - Entrance to the El Paso Border Safety Inspection Facility)

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Jun 1, 2009

MEXICAN'S TRUCKING * Mexico - Group Sues U.S. for $6 Billion

Canacar Claims U.S. in Violation of NAFTA Provisions

Mexico,DF,MEX -Reuters/Transport Topics -1 June 2009: -- Mexican trucking companies are suing the United States government for $6 billion over Washington the North American Free Trade’s refusal to allow Mexican carriers onto U.S. roads under Agreement... About 4,500 trucking companies represented by Mexico’s National Cargo Transportation Association (Canacar), are involved in the lawsuit... Canacar said in April it would seek monetary damages from the U.S. over what it considered NAFTA violations... U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, said May 21 in Washington that the U.S. may reopen its roads to Mexican trucks as soon as this month...


* USA - Fleet Execs See Growing Potential in Mexico - Nation’s Factory Sector Gains Sophistication

USA -Transport Topics, by Sean McNally -June 1, 2009: -- Despite recession-related declines in trade with the United States, Mexico’s potential as an economic power has shippers and fleet executives taking advantage of the emerging market there... Mexico, currently the United States’ third-largest trading partner, sends billions of dollars in freight across the border each day, much of it by truck... Executives said that freight, once primarily disposable, cheaply made goods, now largely consists of high-value items such as televisions, electronic equipment and cell phones — the result of a concerted effort by the Mexican government to attract more sophisticated industries... “We think Mexico has the potential to reach to the top five or 10 economies of the world by 2025,” Angel Mendez, senior vice president of global supply management for Cisco Systems Inc., told... Craig Giffi, who heads the U.S. Consumer & Industrial Products Industry practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP, said that Mexican business officials are optimistic about the country’s ability to expand and compete in the North American market...

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Mar 17, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA & Mexico

* One More Roadblock for Mexican Truckers

USA & Mexico -Staring at Strangers, by Jennifer J. Rose, in Morelia,Michoacán,Mexico & David Leffler in NYC.,NY,USA -15 March 2008: -- Estadounidense bureaucrats have ants in their pants once again over the matter of allowing Mexican truckers to traverse the highways and byways of Los Estados Unidos. First, there was the fret and worry over how safe those trucks might be. Would Mexican truckers be able to live up to the code of professional Estadounidense truckers? Now, they're in a dither about how well Mexican truckers will be able to speak and understand the English language... It's time for Los Estados Unidos to get real about the situation. The kind of truck which might make the daily milk run from Pichataro to Patzcuaro isn't going to be the one making the long-distance run, nor will the driver be some kind of idiot. Over-the-road truck drivers are an intelligent bunch, many of them more savvy than your average lawyer. They bear a lot more responsibility than many college-educated fools, too. Let's give 'em some credit without demanding proof that they can distinguish an adverb from a gerund...

Comment by Michael Dickson - March 16, 2008: -- I agree with you Jennifer. I have driven all over Mexico for going on 40 years and I find the Mexican drivers to be much safer drivers and WAY MORE courteous then the drivers in the USA. When I first started driving down here I was certainly not fluent in Spanish........and still see some signs I don't understand but that doesn't keep me from being a good, careful driver. It's just another smokescreen of discrimination from the USA!

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Mar 14, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* Truckers fret over NAFTA “renegotiation” talk

Wahington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by John D. Schulz -14 March 2008: -- Is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dying? Both Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama have made campaign promises to “renegotiate” the 14-year-old trade agreement that generally has resulted in a boom for U.S. trucking and railroad interests... Since NAFTA was adopted in 1994 under the first Clinton administration, it basically created open trade, free of duties and tariffs, among the U.S., Mexico and Canada. But both Democratic candidates have sounded a protectionist tone during their campaign, threatening to renegotiate NAFTA and other free trade agreements to make them more favorable on labor and environmental grounds... It’s hard to tell whether this is merely campaign rhetoric or an actual threat to NAFTA existence. One thing is for sure. Any talk of renegotiating NAFTA makes truckers nervous... It also has been good for the U.S. trucking industry. Some companies, such as Indianapolis-based Celadon and Con-way’s CFI unit, garner more than 40 percent of their revenue from the lucrative north-south trade in and out of Mexico... For their part, Mexican carriers feel discriminated because they perceive their fleets have to meet a higher level of safety requirements than U.S. carriers. So neither side is terribly happy. Combined with the political uncertainty, carrier executives on both sides of the border say privately, the demonstration project is demonstrably a loser... Considering only five of the more than 700,000 interstate trucking companies and approximately 400,000 intrastate companies registered to operate in the U.S. have applied and only 45 of the 8 million large trucks registered in the United States are actually operating in Mexico, the numbers speak for themselves... Any changes to NAFTA would further dilute interest and would probably mean less north-south trade among the three NAFTA nations. That’s because some business currently in Mexico could conceivably move to either Asia or Latin America, hurting U.S. truckers even more...


* New cross-border participant’s safety stats lackluster - One of the newest participant’s safety records tells a different tale

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -March 12, 2008: -- Despite assurances by Department of Transportation officials that Mexican companies in the cross-border program are squeaky clean, one of the newest participant’s safety records tells a different tale... Avomex International received its authority to operate beyond the border zone Feb. 29. That is in spite of a past riddled with safety violations... The motor carrier’s safety records were highlighted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in the Association’s lawsuit seeking to stop the cross-border program... In one of the court filings, OOIDA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs Rick Craig pointed out that in the 12-month period ending Sept. 21, 2007, Avomex’s five trucks at that time had amassed 206 total violations in 172 inspections. That averages out to just slightly more than 41 violations per truck... That research was completed after Avomex was announced as having passed the Pre-Authorization Safety Audit...

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Mar 13, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Truckers Worry Mexican Carriers Could Avoid Taxes

Washington,DC,USA -The Springdale Morning News (Springdale,AR), by Aaron Sadler -March 12, 2008: -- Bush administration officials sparred with lawmakers Tuesday over a program to allow Mexican truck drivers in the U.S., amid new concern the foreign truckers may be tax scofflaws in Arkansas and elsewhere... The head of the Arkansas trucking lobby said the state has few means to account for Mexican trucks and assess taxes. That gives Mexican carriers an economic advantage, said Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association... A U.S. Department of Transportation official disputed that, saying Mexican truckers who participate in the pilot program must follow the same tax and registration guidelines as their American counterparts... "Mexican safety standards are not on par with American regulations, opponents said. For instance, no central registry exists in Mexico for driver licensing, accident reports and vehicle inspections", according to Sen. Dorgan...


* Truckers' language rules unclear - Mexican drivers also can answer in Spanish

Washington,DC,USA -The San Diego Union Tribune (San Diego,CAL), by Paul M. Krawzak -March 12, 2008: -- Mexican truck drivers allowed to travel throughout the United States under the auspices of a pilot program are first required by law to demonstrate proficiency with the English language... But U.S. Department of Transportation regulations allow those drivers to use a language other than English when responding to questions to prove they recognize U.S. highway signs, according to testimony yesterday at a Senate hearing... The apparent disparity between the legal requirement and the specific regulation drew a skeptical reaction from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D... (Getty Images: Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said U.S. inspectors determine the English proficiency of Mexican drivers. )

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Mar 12, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - With 16 Mexican carriers, results statistically invalid

A pilot program to test the safety of Mexican trucks on U.S. highways has failed to attract enough participants to produce statistically valid results, according to an inspector general's report issued yesterday

Washington,DC,USA -Copley News Service/San Diego Union Tribune, by Paul M. Krawzak -March 11, 2008: --U.S. transportation officials had envisioned that up to 100 Mexican carriers would be involved in the six-month-old experiment by now, the interim assessment from the Department of Transportation's inspector general's office said. But as of Feb. 25, only 16 Mexican carriers had participated... One surprise in the report was that the vast majority of Mexican trucks have not traveled beyond a 25-mile wide commercial zone on the U.S. side of the border, when the point of the program was to enable them to do so. Mexican trucks have been allowed to drive into the border zone for years... Mexican participants have crossed into the United States 3,680 times since the pilot program began, but only 247 of those trips, or 6.7 percent, went beyond the commercial zone, the report said... The report also noted that California was the state where most of the trips beyond the border zone occurred. It said 89 percent of the 247 trips beyond the zone occurred in California... The assessment comes at a critical time for the program, which was designed to last one year... (U-T file photo - U.S. transportation officials had expected up to 100 Mexican trucking companies would be involved in the program, but as of Feb. 25 only 16 were)



* Peters' Testimony on Mexican Trucks Was Frightening - Hoffa Lauds Pryor, Dorgan for Standing Up for Safety and the Constitution
South Eastern,USA -FREIGHT TEAMSTERS -March 11, 2008: -- Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today that Americans should be frightened by the Bush administration's low regard for safety as it opens the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico... During Tuesday's hearing, Peters continued to insist that the pilot program is lawful, though Congress passed a law cutting off funds for it... Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., told her that Congress's intent to end the program was clear... Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said, "The secretary and her legal counsel will not have the last word. Congress will have the last word"... A revelation arising from the hearing was the low standard for determining that a driver is proficient in English, a requirement for driving in the U.S... Inspector General Calvin Scovell testified that a memorandum had been issued by the Transportation Department stating that if a driver could accurately describe the meaning of four road signs in any language understood by the inspector, then he would be considered proficient in English... "It's absolutely absurd that a truck driver doesn't have to respond to questions in English in order to be determined to be proficient in English," Hoffa said... Scovell also said the FMCSA had no way of knowing whether every truck was checked every time it crossed the border...

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Mar 11, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Fed Fights for

Washington,DC,USA -AP, by SUZANNE GAMBOA -10 March 2008: -- Transportation Secretary Mary Peters surrounded herself with some well-known U.S. exports — corn, rice and Jack Daniel's whiskey — to dramatize her warning Monday of economic losses if Mexican trucks are kept off U.S. roads... Peters is fighting in court against a law that sought to end a pilot project allowing Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. roads... The North American Free Trade Agreement gave Mexican trucks the access beginning in 1995. But the U.S. only opened the roads to a few trucks when the pilot program began last September... The latest numbers from the Department of Transportation show 18 Mexican carriers with 62 trucks and six U.S. carriers with 46 trucks are participating in the program. Up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican carriers can participate... Mexican trucks have made 322 crossing into the U.S. interior and U.S. trucking companies have made 683 crossings into Mexico... James Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters president, said he doesn't buy Peters' argument that Mexico will sanction U.S. goods with higher tariffs in retaliation. Mexico has a $70 billion trade surplus because of NAFTA and "they'd be foolish to do it," Hoffa said... Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said Mexico is keeping its options open... (Photo by Susan Walsh/AP: Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, right, speaks during a news conference at the Transportation Department in Washington, Monday, March 10, 2008, on the economic impact of stopping cross border trucking as John Engler of the National Association of Manufacturers looks on at left)


* Transportation Secretary Reverts to Economic Fear Mongering on Cross-Border Trucking

Grain Valley, MO,USA -Layover -10 Marc 2008: -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters stood alongside business interests and attempted to use economic threats to scare lawmakers into supporting a pilot program to allow Mexico-based trucking companies and truck drivers to operate on highways throughout the United States... "It's a sad attempt at economic fear mongering," said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer. "Despite their lip service, they well know that the pilot program is outside of the law"... "The program is supposed to work both ways across the border, and yet there are very few signing up on either side," said Spencer. "Big businesses want the cheap labor, but for a number of reasons trucking companies on both sides of the border don't want to get involved"...


* $2 Billion at Stake for U.S. Ag in Trucking Dispute
Washington,DC,USA -Farm Bureau News -March 10, 2008 – American agriculture could lose up to $2 billion per year if the U.S. does not meet its commitments to Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement, said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. Speaking today at a press conference with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, Stallman said if Congress halts or impedes the Transportation Department’s Cross Border Trucking Pilot Program, Mexico’s retaliation could be devastating to U.S. agriculture... Mexico brought a NAFTA case against the United States which found that the United States is not in compliance with their obligations on this issue under the agreement. This case gives Mexico the authority to retaliate if efforts are not taken by the U.S. to comply... (Photo: AFBF President Bob Stallman speaks about the impact on agriculture if the U.S. does not implement its NAFTA commitment to allow Mexican trucks to transport international cargo inside the United States. To Stallman's right is Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. To Peters' right is John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers and former governor of Michigan. The rest of the group are representatives of agricultural associations)


* US Officials Battle Over Mexican Trucks
Washington,DC,USA -Associated Press/Forbes, by SUZANNE GAMBOA -10 March 2008: -- A senator wants Congress' investigative arm to determine whether the Transportation Department has broken the law by spending federal money on a program allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads... Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called for the investigation by the General Accountability Office a few hours after Transportation Secretary Mary Peters warned of economic losses if Mexican trucks are prohibited from driving deep into the U.S... Peters has been fighting in court to prevent the program's end. But Dorgan and others say Congress prohibited spending money on the program last year...


* DISCRIMINATION - WorldNetDaily Barred From Mexican Trucks Press Event

USA -I'm A Pimpin Turtle -10 March 2008: -- The Department of Transportation today barred WND from attending a news conference in which Secretary Mary Peters defended the controversial Bush administration program allowing Mexican trucks to travel freely on U.S. roads... Agency spokesman Duane DeBruyne, who was screening reporters at the security entrance of the federal building at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., said he did not have the authority to allow entry to WND senior staff writer Jerome Corsi, who has reported extensively on the program and attended other news conferences on the subject... DeBruyne telephoned his supervisor, DOT spokeswoman Melissa DeLaney, who declined permission without explanation, requiring WND to leave the premises... In a phone call to the DOT public affairs office, the agency explained it was requiring "press credentials" for admittance, and no one without them was allowed to participate... The news conference was only for "credentialed members of the media," spokesman Bill Moseley told WND. "There's a specific credential. He did not have a media credential."... And how can a reporter obtain such a credential providing permission to attend?... "I don't know," Moseley responded... But Corsi said he was never asked to produce media credentials of any kind, noting he had a press ID card issued by WND. DeBruyne, Corsi said, immediately recognized him and apologetically explained the department would "not accept your press credentials." As WND previously reported, a constitutional crisis is developing over DOT's decision to continue the Mexican demonstration project in defiance of a vote by the House and Senate that removed funding for the effort. That vote was in the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed by President Bush Dec. 26...

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Mar 8, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Cross-border program challenged in court


Washington,DC,USA -The Sign on San Diego, by Paul M. Krawzak -March 7, 2008: -- A controversial pilot program to test the safety of Mexican trucks traveling throughout the United States has drawn fewer participants than expected, raising the chance that it might be extended to collect additional results, a top federal transportation official said yesterday... In an interview, John Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, blamed opposition to the program in Congress and among groups such as the Teamsters union for depressing participation... Some trucking companies are reluctant to pay several thousand dollars a year for insurance required to cross the border “in light of the uncertainty of whether or not it (the program) is going to continue,” Hill said... No decision has been made on whether to extend the program, which began Sept. 6 and is scheduled to last one year, the Department of Transportation said... Hill, who has overseen the program since its inception, said one way to collect additional safety data would be to extend the program beyond its scheduled end... (Video from YouTube, by fooey12345 -February 12, 2008: "Minutemen Spot Hazardous Mexican Truck on I-5" - Watch for Mexican trucks on our highways - Call CHP, or the state highway patrol - immediately if you see safety violations as they will follow up. Just dial 411 on your cell phone and they will transfer you to the CHP or the state's highway patrol)

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Mar 7, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - DOT ponders extending Mexican truck program

Washington,DC,USA -San Diego Union Tribune/ Today's Trucking -7 March 2008: -- Just because the U.S. government faces the prospect of having a court cancel the controversial Mexican truck pilot project, doesn't mean it plans to put on the brakes any time soon... In fact, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration boss John Hill indicated this week that he might extend the program, which allows pre-selected Mexican carriers to transport goods beyond the longstanding 20-mile border restriction zone... Hill blamed opposition to the program for depressing interest from Mexican truckers. He said many carriers that would qualify under the pilot are reluctant to pay the costs and take on the insurance risk "in light of the uncertainty of whether or not it (the program) is going to continue."... Hill said that one way to get more carriers involved and collect additional safety data would be to extend the project, which reached the halfway point this week... The program allows up to 100 carriers from each country to send trucks across the border. But, so far, only 18 Mexican carriers and five U.S. carriers have participated...

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Feb 16, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - Peters announces a new U.S.-Mexico border crossing at Yuma

Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said a new border crossing at Yuma, Ariz., will make cross-border access easier

Yuma,AZ,USA -The Trucker -15 Feb 2008: -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said today that local communities and businesses across the nation stand to benefit from increased trade under a federal program that makes it possible for U.S. trucks to enter into Mexico... The cross-border demonstration project allows U.S. companies to travel into Mexico to make deliveries and pick-ups, giving them the ability to compete in Mexico’s growing markets and take advantage of new business opportunities, Peters said... In addition, Peters said the new border crossing will make cross-border access easier, which will make Yuma and the State of Arizona far better positioned to take advantage of enhanced trade with Mexico... (Video from YouTube, by Vitamorm -28 Oct 2007: "OCOTILLO TRUCKS ARE STUCK")

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Feb 13, 2008

Cross-Border Trucking * USA - Teamsters Await Ruling on Legality of

Teamsters' Rally Draws 450 Outside San Francisco Courthouse

San Francisco,CAL,USA -PRNewswire-USNewswire -Feb. 12, 2008: -- The Teamsters Union now awaits a decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the legality of the Bush administration's cross-border truck pilot program... The three-judge panel questioned attorneys for the Teamsters, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association, who joined the Teamsters in the lawsuit... Congress set safety requirements before the southern border could be opened to long-haul trucks. Those included upgrading inspection facilities, computer databases and state enforcement capacity. The Teamsters argued those requirements were not met... The Teamsters further argued that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters broke another law after Congress cut off funds for the program in December. Peters defied Congress and announced she would keep the border open... (Photo by Associated Press: Outside a federal appeals court in San Francisco, union members and supporters rallied against a program that allows Mexican trucks to drive throughout the United States)

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Feb 10, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Company drops out of cross-border program

One of the companies participating in cross-border trucking program with Mexico called it quits Feb. 1

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -February 6, 2008: -- Trinity Industries of Mexico withdrew from the cross-border program and reinstated its OP-2 commercial zone authority Feb. 1, according to a notice posted on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Web site... Rick Craig, OOIDA’s director of regulatory affairs dissected data from FMCSA’s own SafeStat database collected and analyzed by OOIDA staff and a paralegal at The Cullen Law Firm, OOIDA’s legal counsel... “Trinity was cited for 1,123 safety violations in the 12-month time period I reviewed,” Craig testified in the brief. “That is an average of 112 safety violations per vehicle registered with with the FMCSA by Trinity”...

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Feb 9, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Peters defends Mexico truck pilot program

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters defended the pilot program that allows Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States in defiance of a congressional order

Washington,DC,USA -Copley News Service/The San Diego Union Tribune, by Paul M. Krawzak -February 8, 2008: -- In her first public statements on the Mexican trucking controversy, U.S. officials also responded to complaints that a Mexican carrier that withdrew from the program several days ago never should have qualified because of an allegedly poor safety record... Peters got an earful of criticism from several lawmakers during a House appropriations transportation subcommittee hearing on President Bush's proposed budget... Peters emphasized what she said were the program's strict requirements to ensure that Mexican carriers comply with U.S. safety standards...

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Feb 8, 2008

Teamsters * USA - Want DOT secretary canned over Mexican truck pilot

One of the most influential labor organizations in the U.S., the Teamsters Union, is now targeting Transportation Secretary Mary Peters' job

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -7 Feb 2008: -- ... The union recently launched a nationwide campaign to fire Peters for "unlawfully opening the border to unsafe trucks from Mexico"... The anti-Peters campaign includes a web site offering downloadable "Fire Mary Peters" windshield signs. In addition, posters and floor graphics were to be posted near the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C... The Teamsters will argue in court on Feb. 12 that Peters broke federal laws by not ensuring motorists aren't endangered by allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. highways. The case will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco... Meanwhile, according to the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), one of the larger Mexican carriers participating in cross-border trucking program quit the pilot... (Photo: Unions and special interest groups have now set their sights on DOT Secretary Peters' job to stop the Mexican cross border program)

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Feb 5, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - Produce flood Nogales entry

Nogales,AZ,USA -The Arizona Daily Star, by Gabriela Rico -4 Feb. 2008: -- With the busy agriculture season upon them, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are hustling at the Mariposa Commercial Port of Entry as produce trucks, packed with watermelons, cucumbers and other produce wait for clearance... More than 1,200 commercial trucks are being processed each day. From January through April, the port is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays to help ease congestion... The $2 billion produce industry in Southern Arizona provides 70 percent of the winter produce coming into the United States from Mexico. Most of it passes through the Mariposa port, in the western outskirts of Nogales... (Over the noise of idling semis, Sam Shuff, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, lets a Mexican trucker know he's going to check his payload during a pre-inspection in Nogales at the Mariposa Commercial Port of Entry. Now is the agricultural busy season, and more than 1,200 commercial trucks are being processed each day)

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Jan 22, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUKS DEBATE * USA - 13 years too late, U.S. opens roads

Harlingen,TX,USA -The Valley Morning Star -14 Jan 2008: -- We applaud President Bush’s renewed effort to implement a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement that should have gone into effect 13 years ago... The White House announced the relaunch of a program that will allow Mexican trucks full access into this country, despite Congress’ efforts to stop them... Two important lessons can be learned from that... The first is, of course, that those who have tried to scare the country into believing that removing the ban would lead to waves of dilapidated, overloaded trucks driven by drugged-up drivers who hadn’t slept in days are simply wrong. Three companies already enjoy unfettered access to this country’s roads and we haven’t seen any increase in accidents involving freight trucks, regardless of nationality. Trucks are inspected as they cross the bridge and those deemed unsafe are either brought into compliance on site or sent back south, as they should be... The second is that public safety agencies obviously are already able to handle the influx of new freight, especially if most meet safety, weight and documentation mandates. It’s apparent that foreign trucks have blended in quite nicely with the normal traffic flow, without overburdening state and local law enforcement officials. Of course, as the sudden polemic reveals, the lessons haven’t been learned by the hardheads on Capitol Hill... NAFTA’s benefits are nowhere more evident than here along the border, which has enjoyed rapid economic growth since the treaty went into effect. We can only expect more benefits from the elimination of further barriers to free trade. Opening our roads will help get merchandise and produce to markets in all three NAFTA countries, benefiting merchants and consumers everywhere. Let’s hope restrictions to overland trucking are dropped this year, allowing our growth to continue...

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Jan 13, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Cross-border trucking continues despite protests

Like it or not, Mexican trucks will continue making deliveries into the United States interior despite congressional efforts to block their passage

Brownsville,TX,USA -The Brownsville Herald, by Aaron Nelsen -January 12, 2008: -- ... Congress voted last year to stop funding for a cross-border trucking pilot program, however, last week, the Bush administration argued that while the congressional action bans funding for a new program it does nothing to stop the current one... The cross-border program has faced opposition from labor and environmental groups ever since it was proposed with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994... More recently, truck operators have spoken out against the program, claiming that it will undermine American operators, but some Valley businesses maintain the local impact would be minimal... Cross-border trucking is a multi-billion dollar industry and growing. U.S.-Mexico ground transportation trade totaled $26.6 billion in October 2007, up 6 percent compared to October 2006, according to the Department of Transportation. The value of imports carried by truck was 10.6 percent higher in October 2007 than October 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.1 percent higher. Texas led all states in ground trade with Mexico in October with $8.2 billion... As trade with Mexico continues increasing, proponents of cross-border trucking argue, it will reduce costs for consumers. Initially, however, the pilot program is limited in scope... “Myself, I’m not afraid of Mexican trucks coming up north,” said John Cumberworth, president of Sun Belt Transportation in Brownsville. “The ones that want to come are going to come, so there’s no use complaining about it”... Despite claims from many of his peers that U.S. truckers are now at a disadvantage, Cumberworth said U.S. companies have an advantage over their Mexican counterparts. While Mexican companies pay their operators less, he said, U.S. companies could offset losses with lower operating costs... The Mexican Embassy also applauded the DOT decision to continue the cross-border trucking demonstration program. “The administration’s position strongly supports the view that complying with NAFTA and expanding its benefits is in the best interest of both nations and more importantly of consumers (on) each side of the border,” said Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican embassy in the United States...

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Jan 12, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Fight doesn't stall trucks at border

Sides haggling over wording of law passed in December - It all comes down to the word "establish"

USA -FREIGHT TEAMSTERS.blogspot.com -January 11, 2008: -- In the latest battle over cross-border trucking, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Teamsters and Congress are at loggerheads over whether to allow trucks from Mexico to cross freely into the United States... The Transportation Department has decided to continue its pilot program despite a law against it that Congress passed in December. DOT's argument is that the law prohibits the government from spending any money to "establish" the program but it began the program in September and simply is continuing it... The law says: "None of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico"... "The lawlessness, recklessness and sheer arrogance of the Bush administration just blows my mind," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said in a statement...

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Jan 11, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* The other point of view - Mexican truckers await permits to drive farther into U.S.

El Paso,TX,USA -The El Paso Times, by Louie Gilot -11 Jan 2008: -- Repeated assaults on a pilot program to let Mexican trucks roam U.S. roadways are not deterring one local company... Grupo Cementos de Mexico, based in Chihuahua City with cement plants in Juárez, was supposed to send its first truck across in December, the month the U.S. Congress passed an omnibus bill containing a provision to block the program... But politics is not what kept the GCC truck home... "The process is very hard," said company spokesman Humberto Urranga. "There are a lot of checks. We had the insurance and the special stickers and the Texas license plates, but we were still waiting for (Department of Transportation) stickers to drive in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado"... The pilot project is proceeding, regardless of its controversy in the United States, Urranga said... Although many of the Mexican companies enrolled in the program have registered several trucks each, many said they are only testing the water with one or two trucks, and even one or two trips... (Photo by Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times: A GCC driver ran to a company cement hauler rig at the company's El Paso plant at 2825 W. Paisano at Executive Center on Thursday. The company ships dry cement from Salamayuca, Mexico, to the plant)



* Eroding safety on our roads one truck at a time
Washington,DC,USA -Public Citizen/Auto Safety & Consumer Protection -10 Jan 2008: -- The Bush administration announced yet another Mexico-based trucking company that is allowed free reign to operate throughout the entire U.S. in the controversial NAFTA trucks pilot program — with 34 more companies waiting in the wings... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that Distribuidora Hermanos Hayashi is authorized to send one truck into the U.S. beyond the commercial border zone. This brings the total NAFTA trucking companies operating beyond the restricted commercial border zone to 13 with 58 trucks... Even more trucks are in line to receive full access to U.S. roads. FMCSA has notified 34 more carriers that they have passed a Pre-Authorization Safety Audit, which is a prerequisite of participation in the pilot program...

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Jan 8, 2008

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - Administration defies law, expands NAFTA trucks pilot

Washington,DC,USA -Public Citizen/Auto Safety & Consumer Protection -7 Jan 2008: -- The Bush administration announced today that it is allowing full access to U.S. roads to yet another Mexico-based carrier — despite Congress's clear intent that the reckless NAFTA trucking pilot program be brought to an end... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced today that the Baja California-based carrier Madereria Las Lomitas is now authorized to send one truck throughout U.S. roads. The new truck brings the NAFTA trucks project up to 12 Mexico-based carriers sending 57 trucks into the U.S. without being restricted to the commercial border zone...


* Teamsters File Court Letter Against Mexican Trucks Program
Alexandria,VA,USA -Transport Topics -8 Jan 2008: -- The Teamsters union said late Monday it filed a letter with a federal appeals court claiming the Bush administration broke laws in continuing to allow long-haul trucks from Mexico to use U.S. highways... The Bush administration pretends the law does not apply to the existing program. It has said it will continue to allow some trucks from Mexico to travel beyond the narrow border zone... The union said it believes the pilot program creates a dangerous precedent on U.S. highways because Mexican trucks and truck drivers are not held to the same safety standards as their U.S. counterparts...

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