| Archive for Hotshot Connect Forum Connecting Transporters and Shippers |
| Rose |
Bush Signs Mexican Trucks Restrictions Into LawBush Signs Mexican Trucks Restrictions Into LawMeasure Highlights Safety Concerns Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. President Bush has signed a bill into law setting restrictions on the government’s pilot program to allow Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways, the Associated Press reported. The measure signed Friday, which was included in a $120 billion Iraq war spending bill, includes requirements such as a certification from the Department of Transportation’s inspector general that safety and inspection requirements be met before the pilot program can begin, AP said. DOT had wanted to start a one-year pilot this year, and if successful, fully open the border to Mexican trucks. The House passed a measure earlier this month by a 411-3 vote that would delay the plan until certain safety requirements were met |
| Rose |
DOT Outlines Cross-Border StandardsDOT Outlines Cross-Border StandardsThe Transportation Department said Monday it has published additional details on safety standards and inspection program in place for its cross-border trucking demonstration program. The details were published in a supplemental Federal Register notice Friday, DOT said. “This information shows the great lengths to which we’ve gone to ensure this program meets high safety standards, while providing American businesses opportunities for further economic growth,” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator John Hill said in a statement. “We continue to meet or exceed every condition required by law.” The notice includes comprehensive information about the cross-border trucking demonstration program, including pre-authorization safety audits of Mexican trucking companies, which are conducted by U.S. auditors in Mexico. It also details specific measures already in place to protect public health and safety, including roadside inspections, safety ratings, compliance reviews and civil penalties, English language proficiency requirements and a review of U.S. motor carrier safety laws and corresponding Mexican regulations. By Transport Topics |
| Rose |
Senate Panel Delays Border-Card RuleSenate Panel Delays Border-Card RuleBipartisan Amendment Calls for 17-Month Review of Crossing Card The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to halt the launch of a plan for a new border-crossing card for at least 17 months, in order to give the Departments of State and Homeland Security more time to fix its problems. The bipartisan amendment passed Thursday and offered by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) mandates at least a 17-month shift in the launch of the land and sea components of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative from January 2008 to June 1, 2009. The amendment was included in changes to the annual Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, after Leahy and Stevens lined up a formidable bipartisan coalition of support, according to Leahy’s office. The certification requirements require the departments to: • Ensure that the technology for any Passport Card (PASS Card) meets certain security standards, and that the National Institutes of Standards and Technology certify technology chosen by DHS and State; • Share the technology with the governments of Canada and Mexico; • Justify the fee set for the PASS Card. 4) Develop an alternative procedure for groups of children traveling across the border under adult supervision with parental consent; • Install all necessary technological infrastructure at the ports of entry to process the cards and train U.S. agents at the border crossings in all aspects of the new technology; • Make the PASS Card available for international land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and Bermuda; and • Establish a unified implementation date for all sea and land borders. By Transport Topics |
| admin |
DOT Sets Conditions on Mexican Trucks ProgramThe Department of Transportation said that Mexican trucks will be allowed to operate throughout the United States under its pilot program as long as U.S. trucking companies have equal access south of the border, Bloomberg reported Friday.The announcement, published in Friday’s Federal Register, means that DOT is ready to resume the pilot program that was blocked by Congress last month, Bloomberg said. Under the program — which is being reviewed by DOT’s inspector general at Congress’ request — a limited number of trucks and trucking companies that operate in the current U.S. border zone would be given wider access to the United States, DOT said. Congress has demanded equal access to Mexico for U.S. trucking companies, and the Federal Register notice by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the project “will not commence until such reciprocity is provided.” FMCSA is part of DOT. The House voted July 24 to block the Bush administration’s planned pilot program, limiting visiting trucks to the current border-area zone in part due to safety concerns. The plan also has been criticized by labor and safety groups, and in May the House voted 411-3 to impose more restrictions on DOT’s plans to grant Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways. |
| admin |
Mexico's trucks get OK to roll in U.S. next weekMexican truckers can begin hauling goods over the border into the U.S. as soon as Thursday after a federal appeals court on Friday refused a request from the Teamsters union and others to block the vehicles.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the Teamsters and other groups suing hadn't met the legal requirements to justify blocking the program. "This is the wrong decision for American working men and women. We will now proceed to litigate this case on the merits," Teamsters General President James Hoffa said in a statement. "We believe this program clearly breaks the law. We will continue to fight for safety and national security in the courts and in Congress." Current rules require freight from Mexico to be transferred to U.S. trucks and drivers in the U.S. Under a one-year U.S. pilot program, Mexican trucking companies could move shipments around the U.S. themselves, saving time and money. The program was supposed to start as soon as Thursday. The Teamsters union, representing 100,000 long-haul truckers, and the Sierra Club and other public advocacy groups asked the court Wednesday to put the plan on hold until they receive more assurances that the vehicles comply with U.S. environmental, security and safety regulations and that U.S. truckers would get reciprocal rights to travel in Mexico. The U.S. Transportation Department said in a Thursday court filing that Mexican trucks will be pre-screened and inspected for safety before being allowed to travel in the U.S. Mexico promised to reciprocate for U.S. trucks, the agency said. Forty-four trucks from Mexico are expected to participate in the program during the first 30 days, the U.S. said in the filing. Trucks from as many as 100 companies may eventually participate, the U.S. said. Canadian trucks have full access to U.S. roads. Mexican trucks are limited to so-called commercial zones within about 25 miles of the U.S. border. |
| admin |
FMCSA Opens Border to Mexican TrucksThe Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced late Thursday night that two trucking companies - one Mexican, the other from the United States - have been selected to initiate the two nation's cross-border demonstration project. |
| admin |
From: The El Paso TimesNo foreign trucks enter country as program beginsBy Louie Gilot / El Paso Times Article Launched: 09/07/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT Click photo to enlargeInspector Jerry Ramirez inspected a truck from Mexico on Friday... (Adriane Jaeckle / El Paso Times)«12»The deadline for a program to allow Mexican trucks to roam U.S. roads came Thursday not with the predicted flow of Mexican big rigs but with protests by U.S. truckers. Dozens of truckers protested in San Diego and in Laredo -- although none in El Paso -- waving American flags and signs saying "NAFTA Kills" and "Unsafe Mexican Trucks." But they will probably have to wait a few more days for the first Mexican truck to cross. While 38 Mexican carriers have been cleared to be in the one-year pilot program, the program had not started Thursday. Officials at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said they were awaiting a green light from Congress, after Congress receives a final audit report from the Office of the Inspector General. But by late Thursday, it was not clear where that process was. Mario Reyes Rubio, general manager for Transportes Lyrma, a carrier in Juárez with 85 trucks, is registered in the pilot program. Whenever he is allowed to, Reyes said, he will send shipments of auto parts and Electrolux refrigerators up north, saving his customers money. "We'll be able to go wherever they want us to go, all the way," he said. Now, Mexican trucks are allowed to go only 20 miles inland from the border. Rafael Tello, a driver for Lyrma, said he feels ready to venture deeper into the United States. "I know it will be a little different. The rules are different, like the driving periods. You can drive longer (without mandatory rest periods) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- in Mexico than in the U.S.," he said. Right now, drivers like Tello, pick up products from Juárez maquiladoras and deliver the loads to warehouses in El Paso. The cargo is then turned over to U.S. truckers, who take it to its final U.S. destination, be it Phoenix, Detroit or elsewhere. Mexican trucks were supposed to be allowed in the United States beyond the border region in 2000 under the North American Free Trade Agreement rules, but concerns about labor and environmental impact stalled implementation. In retaliation, Mexican officials blocked access to their interior roads by U.S. truckers. The pilot program that's about to start will allow a maximum of 100 Mexican trucking companies access to U.S. roads for a year. For the first month, only 19 carriers and 44 trucks will be let through, said Melissa DeLaney, a spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. The Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and the nonprofit group Public Citizen sued to try to stop the program, arguing that there won't be enough oversight of the drivers coming into the U.S. from Mexico and public safety would be endangered. But a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Bush administration could move ahead. Representatives of the Teamsters in El Paso said they had not received directives from their national headquarters to organize protests Thursday. Government officials have said the Mexican trucks and Mexican truckers will be submitted to the same safety inspections as U.S. trucks and truck drivers. In addition, Mexican carriers that are part of the program must go through a two-month safety audit, which looks at permits and other paperwork, the state of repair of the trucks, the health of the drivers and the drivers' English proficiency. At the Petro truck stop on Interstate 10, reactions to the program were mixed. Truck driver Carlos Moreno said he doesn't begrudge anyone trying to make a living. "There's enough for all of us," said Moreno, an El Paso resident. But he is concerned that some of the drivers from Mexico won't be able to read highway signs written in English. "The only thing that scares me is that they can't read," Moreno said. "You can always tell in construction zones." Omar Nuñez, a 34-year-old driver from Pecos, said he worries that freight prices will drop as shippers turn to Mexican trucking companies that may offer cheaper services. "As it is," he said, "I'm barely making it right now." Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131. The Associated Press contributedto this story. Cross-border trucking Northbound commercial trucks crossing at the Bridge of the Americas and the Zaragoza Bridge: Fiscal year 2006: 773,265. Fiscal year 2005: 725,340. Fiscal year 2004: 716,616. Source: Customs and Border Protection. |
| admin |
FROM: San DiegoBy Jerry KammerCOPLEY NEWS SERVICE September 8, 2007 DENIS POROY / Associated Press Ruben Montanez, an inspector for the California Highway Patrol, checked a truck at Otay Mesa. WASHINGTON – The final roadblock for a controversial program to allow Mexican trucks to operate beyond a 25-mile strip north of the U.S.-Mexico border was a set of concerns raised by the Department of Transportation's own inspector general. The concerns were outlined in a report to Congress that was publicly released yesterday, a day after final approval was granted for a pilot program. In the report, the inspector general found fault with plans to inspect Mexican drivers and trucks, which are required to meet the same standards applied to U.S. truckers. The inspector general also said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – the Transportation Department agency responsible for administering the program – needed to ensure that state authorities across the United States understand their roles in implementing the program. It noted that several states lack procedures for enforcing regulations that prohibit Mexican trucks from making point-to-point deliveries within the United States, while permitting them to haul cargo back to Mexico. Online: For the final inspector general's report on the cross-border trucking demonstration project, go to uniontrib.com/more/naftatrucks. But in a letter delivered Thursday to both houses of Congress, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters certified that the department had addressed all the inspector general's concerns. Peters also said the program, launched as a one-year demonstration project, is important “for maintaining our relationship with one of our nation's largest trading partners.” Peters' assurances satisfied congressional requirements for the trucks to start rolling, as first anticipated in the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. It proposed to erase rules that limited Mexican trucks to making deliveries within 25 miles of the border. NAFTA called for an open-border trucking arrangement to be in place by 2000. But U.S. authorities, responding to a chorus of concerns about jobs and safety, withheld approval. The delays drew angry protest from Mexico City, where government officials accused the United States of failing to honor its commitments. With strong backing from the Bush administration, the pilot program is projected to grow incrementally. It will allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to deliver goods anywhere in the United States. But it continues to face legal challenges north of the border. The Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association, which says it represents 155,000 drivers in the United States and Canada, yesterday petitioned the federal Court of Appeals in Washington to block implementation of the program. AdvertisementThe program “creates important safety issues for professional truck drivers who use the nation's highways 24 a day, seven days a week,” the association told the court. John Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration administrator, disputed those concerns. “This long-awaited project will protect public safety on American highways as we work to both save consumers money and help our economy,” he said yesterday. Hill also reported that Mexican authorities had cleared the first U.S. trucking company to make deliveries all across Mexico. Such reciprocity was also specified by NAFTA. |
| Stroker |
OK the flood gates are now open, now what do we do????? |
| Tom Cobb |
Keep doing what you're doing and write your representatives. There isn't much else to be done that I know of. |
| bth9461 |
This test program will most likely go off without many problems, the real problem begins when the Mexican compaies have full access hear. The trucking industry will go the way off construction, light manufacturing, landscaping, and the low skill service industry.
I would not plan to stay in trucking till you retire if you are 50 or under, I think the pay scale has to drop. Make your money and move on. The small trucker might survive on selling service but the good small and midsize trucking jobs will be hurt bad. I see Swift & Hunt & the other big boys making it with Mexican drivers. The North American Union seems to be unstopable. Immigration won't be fixed, and that will bring cultural disaster along with economic distress. Get your kids and grandkids an education. That might buy them some time, so they can afford to live in gated communities. But this country is going to change and I don't think it is possible to change that until we bottom out. I don't know how long this downward slide will run, but I think we can expect a jagged junk heap at the bottom. No soft landing I fear. Brian |
| D. Green |
Brian, I wish I could disagree with what you wrote... but I think you nailed it. I am 4th generation Texan, family's been here aince 1866, in my extended family, there are about as many spanish surnames as there are european. But, we all worry about the influx of illegal s. americans, that their local customs of graft, official corruption, will not be far behind.
The latest on the cross-Mexican border fiasco: Sept. 11, 2007, 7:35PM Senate votes to block Mexican trucks from U.S. highways By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to ban Mexican trucks from U.S. roadways, rekindling a more than decade-old trade dispute with Mexico. By a 74-24 vote, the Senate approved a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways. The proposal is part of a $106 billion transportation and housing spending bill that the Senate hopes to vote on later this week. The House approved a similar provision to Dorgan's in July as part of its version of the transportation spending bill. Supporters of Dorgan's amendment argued the trucks are not yet proven safe. Opponents said the U.S. is applying tougher standards to Mexican trucks than to Canadian trucks and failing to live up to its NAFTA obligations. Until last week, Mexican trucks were restricted to a commercial border zone stretching about 20 miles inside the United States, except in Arizona, where it extended 75 miles. One truck has traveled deep into the U.S. interior as part of the pilot program. ....read the rest at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5127184.html ..... This won't stop it, yet. The House still has to pass the bill. And of course, the Shrub must sign it.... |
| Tom Cobb |
Before I get to my point. North American Union is denied by the conversative talk shows as being a reality. It is a liberal thought process and desire from what I can tell.
Now to my point in this discussion. Some of you know that I am a person who observes things around me and over time I draw conclusions from my observations. These observations are from what I see and are usually trends. This is coupled with what I see or hear from many news sources. One news report that got my attention recently is that the Mexicans in CA are moving from picking fruit to construction and other jobs. One thing I have seen for several years is that no blacks are working construction jobs and very few whites with the exception of the unionized jobs up north. Whites nor blacks work the fields and other back breaking jobs. Last night I was in Conroe, TX at the Golden Corral and a thought came to me. In all the restraunts I have eat in I see vey few blacks or whites working in the kitchens, etc. In the south I still see a good many blacks in the restraunt kitchens, etc. but it is mostly mexicans. I thought, what is going to happen when the mexicans start moving up into the better paying jobs and out of the fields, construction, and restaraunt jobs? Here at home I see very few teenagers of any race working in the typical retail jobs that they normally work. Older people and mexicans are there. I see this particularly in the fast food places. In the Arab countries that are oil rich they import laborers from India, Pakistan, and other poor countries. They used to us Koreans but they have become like Americans and want work the labor jobs. Now the question is this...What poor race of people do we import to do the work that the whites, blacks and mexicans won't do because we have moved up the social ladder. I fear that whites may go down the ladder and become the laborers as we become the minority. Chew, mull, meditate and cogitate on this for a while. |
| D. Green |
Now see, Tom, if'n you'd called, I'd a bought your supper. 
PS... Ryans on Lp336 is better. What you talk about in your above post has already happened here. That's the main reason I moved into trucking 10 yrs ago. In 1986 I was making $17 hr operating large crawler cranes, but the illegals began moving from the labor jobs to equipment, and within two years, no company would pay more than $11 hr. KBR, JE Meritt and Williams Bros were the largest & worst offenders. I walked away from a company I'd worked for for 17 yrs. Look around at all the road construction. I won't say they are all illegal, but you can't get hired if you don't speak spanish. What I was trying to say in my above post was I don't care about immigration, as long as it's legal. This illegal stuff will drag our entire country down to S.American living standards. The amount of illegals here now is staggering. |
| Tom Cobb |
You are correct Dennis. Legal is OK but not the illegal immigration. It has to stop but the politicians are not willing to do anything since they will hurt themselves with the vote issue.
Just once I would love to see politicians that have balls to do what is right regardless of the consequences of the vote. What they don't seem to understand is the words integrity, honor and justice. In all likelihood if they would do it right they would get votes from the people that would stand by them because they did what was right. I doubt that I will ever see that. It was after 8 PM when I got to Conroe and my mind was on a lot of other things at the time. I would have liked to had dinner with you and we will sooner or later. Later guys, gotta get busy. Tom |
| bth9461 |
Hey I haven't gone all liberal on you yet. I don't think that there are 5 Skull & Bone members in some smoke filled room planning out the North American Union.
But all laws and treaties, and the lack of enforcement of other laws have unintended consequinces. Many things that happen are unforseen. That is why sometimes it is better that Washington is stagnated by partisan politics. Sometimes a do nothing Congress is a good thing. At other times we need them to clean up their messes. What I think we are seeing is that in an attempt to foster free trade and compete better in the world economy, the lines between Cannada, Mexico, and the U.S. have become blurred. This has caused some cultural and economic problems. We have made it easy for US companies to rely on cheap labor from illegal's here and to expand operations out side of the country (cheap labor, tax issues, GOV'T REGULATION, ect). What has happened over the past 30 years is that consumer goods have dropped in price to offset food, housing, and fuel. Wages have gone up for the educated and high skill people. The good paying blue collar jobs have suffered the most, because the skill level is not high but they are hard jobs to do. To do them good does take a certain level of skill but the country as a whole has decided that it is acceptable to save money rather than require high quality. We have also killed our productivity level in some of these jobs by a lack of work ethic and a sense of entiltlement that breeds complacentcy. No concern for your companies economic health until it is too late. Personally I believe if the Illegal immigration is fixed by deportation and fines for those who hire them. And legal immigration is not increased from 300k to 1.5mil like some want to do. We will see a contraction of business activity as some businesses won't be able to compete for workers. We must also revisit public assistance. There used to be consequences for being POOR. We have very few really poor in this country. We have low income or no income but they have food, shelter, transportation, and plenty of consumer goods. We have made it easy for someone to work a little or not at all. I wonder if abortion (less Americans), the WAR on Poverty, over taxation, and over regulation; were partially responsible for our dependency on cheap and illegal labor. All laws have unintended consequences. Like Tom says we need politicians that will do the RIGHT thing and not the popular or special interest driven thing. Even if it hurts in the short run. I think that if we fail to make the tough choices on illegal immigration we will lose our culture and you won't be able to buy it back once it is lost with any level of economic prosparity. Somethings you just can't buy no matter how much money you have. If we make the tough right chioces we will prosper in the future. If we choose the easy path now it will eventually lead us into a box canyon with no room to turn around. No pain, no gain. The right choices will cost all of us some pain, and it won't be distributed equally, but right is right. If you want future generations to have a special country to call thier own, then we must start carrying that burden now. Brian |
| Tom Cobb |
Well said Brian.
I read somewhere recently that abortion IS the cause of not having the workers we need and the numbers needed in the military. Ironically the liberal European countries like France are seeing the same consequence of abortion laws. Some are trying to correct it. There are those would say that there is to many people in the world and are advocating all kinds of genocide to reduce the population. To many people in world causes global warming. Canada has taken some steps to correct the illegal immigration problems but the US just can't seem to get started and do what the people demand. I say empatically that any politician in office today that will not do what the will of the people is needs to be voted out of office in the next election and keep doing so until they get the message to do what they were elected to do. We can start by flooding the politicians emails and phones with messages that will let them know where they stand with the people. A campaign of the people rising up about the issues....like ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION OR MORE UNPOLITICALLY CORRECT...ILLEGAL ALIENS. |
| admin |
FMCSA to Track Mexican TrucksFMCSA to Track Mexican TrucksAgency to Use Satellite Systems The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Thursday it would be tracking Mexican trucks participating in a cross-border trucking program with satellite technology. The agency said it planned to issue a contract “to provide satellite terminals for the near real-time tracking of commercial trucks traveling throughout the continental U.S. and Mexico . . . at no cost to the participating trucking companies.” FMCSA Administrator John Hill said the tracking will allow the agency to monitor the carriers for safety violations and violations of cabotage rules. U.S. trucks traveling in Mexico will also be tracked, FMSCA said. There was no announcement for when the contract would be issued. |
| Tom Cobb |
Interesting. What happens when they disable the tracking device? |
| admin |
Mexican Trucks in Cross-Border Program Now Top 55, Paper SayAt least 55 Mexican trucks have received approval to make deliveries anywhere within the United States under the Transportation Department’s pilot program, the San Antonio Express-News reported.An undisclosed number of trucks from another 37 Mexican carriers also have been authorized to participate in the program pending the filing of proof of insurance, the paper reported, citing DOT data. To date 41 trucks from four U.S. carriers — which have shown less interest in the program than their Mexican counterparts — have gained similar access into Mexico under the program, the Express-News said. Trucks began crossing the border in September under the program, which has come under intense Congressional scrutiny because of safety and other concerns. |
| Tom Cobb |
And the shippers want to reduce rates to take advantage of the cheap haulers. |
| admin |
Mexican Trucks Program to Continue, FMCSA SaysMexican Trucks Program to Continue, FMCSA SaysMexican trucks may continue to operate widely in the United States, under the Bush administration’s interpretation of a new transportation spending law, Bloomberg reported Thursday. “The current cross-border trucking demonstration project, established in September, will continue to operate,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a statement. But under the spending law, the U.S. “will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico,” FMCSA said, Bloomberg reported. The administration contends the law allows as many as 100 companies to go beyond a 25-mile zone inside the U.S. border, in a test program that has been vigorously opposed by Congress and organized labor. The law, signed by Bush yesterday, says none of the funds may be used “to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program,” but the administration contends that does not apply to the current program, already under way. |