Posted on 04/14/2007 4:52:09 AM PDT by Man50D
American truckers plan to circle the White House and state capitals in a "rolling blockade" to protest a federal government plan to allow Mexican long-haul rigs to operate throughout the U.S.
Drivers who participate in "Truck-Out" also are being asked to run their rigs at the minimum speed permitted by law.
The protest is scheduled for April 23-25 to coordinate with the "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" rally and radio talk show marathon in Washington planned by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
"American truckers are going to have their jobs undercut or vanish into the hands of Mexican truck drivers as this Department of Transportation pilot project gains permanency," said Frosty Wooldridge, a writer and talk-show host who drove 18-wheelers for two decades.
"American truckers are going to have their jobs undercut or vanish into the hands of Mexican truck drivers as this Department of Transportation pilot project gains permanency," said Frosty Wooldridge, a writer and talk-show host who drove 18-wheelers for two decades.
Woolridge first called for the Truck-Out protest in a column at the end of March, asking truckers in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California to participate.
The idea expanded to a national boycott when Wanda Piety, a California independent business owner, joined Wooldridge in planning "Truck-Out".
"Every American truck driver's job is at risk," Woolridge said. "American drivers are going to see their wages undermined or they will lose their jobs altogether to Mexican drivers and Mexican trucking companies."
As WND reported, despite congressional opposition, the Bush administration expects to begin within weeks a pilot test that will allow Mexican trucks to operate freely across the U.S.
A spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ian Grossman, told WND the agency plans to grant the first authority as early as the end of this month.
WND previously reported an amendment introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., into the Fiscal Year 2007 Supplemental Appropriations Bill is designed to block the pilot test until the Mexican government authorizes U.S. trucking companies to operate in Mexico.
'Jobs will vanish'
Wooldridge told WND he expects Mexican truck drivers to haul loads for considerably less than half the cost of U.S. truck drivers.
"Jobs will vanish for American truckers," he contended. "The independents are going to be run right out of the business."
Working together, Piety and Wooldridge have created a website, SaveAmericaFund.org as the home of the boycott.
"The reaction we are getting to 'Truck-Out' has been overwhelmingly successful," Piety told WND. "We have thousands of truckers contacting us saying they will participate."
The plan calls for drivers to form a slow-moving line across major highways outlying Washington, D.C. and the state capitals of the lower 48 states.
"We want to circle the White House and the state capitals in a slow-rolling boycott," Piety explained. "As long as we keep moving, the trucks won't be ticketed. The truckers plan to drive the slowest minimum speed allowed by the law, running bumper-to-bumper and side-by-side across the highways to block up and jam up traffic."
Piety said the goal is to back up traffic behind the protest "as far as we can back it up."
"There's no law against anything we're doing," she said. "Even on the freeways, for trucks to go all the way across the freeway and back up traffic, there's no law that says that's illegal."
If police come and break up the protest, the truckers "will just go on down the road a ways and start up the protest up once again."
"We just want to continually have a cohesive flow of truckers boycotting going on, all across the nation, wherever we can get it to happen," Piety explained. "We want to let as many people to know as possible."
Piety told WND she sees the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck pilot test as part of a broader Bush administration plan to open the border.
"There's a problem in this country, and it revolves around George Bush's plans with Mexico," she said. "The plan to allow Mexican trucks into the U.S. is part of [the North America Free Trade Agreement] and we are opposed to that plan, just like we are opposed to NAFTA."
Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the OOIDA, told WND his group shares "in the outrage that is being felt by the folks who are organizing and participating in the 'Truck-Out.'"
While OOIDA is not sponsoring or endorsing the protest, Spencer said the group is "encouraging our members to fully exercise their rights and responsibilities as American citizens to work within the system and convey their indignation to their elected officials."
"It is simply outrageous that our government plans to allow Mexican trucks full reign of U.S. highways before all safety, economic and homeland security concerns are completely and appropriately addressed," he said.
A Teamsters Union spokesman told WND the union was aware of "Truck-Out" but not involved.
"The union is concentrating on using its political clout to block the pilot program through the legislative process," Galen Munroe told WND.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose NAFTA Trucking Safety Act is now working its way through House committees, commented to WND on the "Truck-Out" boycott.
"The growing opposition to the pilot program and the overall effort to grant cross-border truckers immediate and direct access into the United States should not be ignored," he said.
"People have a right to be concerned with the Mexican truck pilot program," said Hunter, "especially when it could potentially compromise their safety and our nation's security."
Hunter stressed the reasons he has introduced the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act, noting it's "important that the implementing authority listen to and thoroughly address these concerns before moving forward with the program."
Wooldridge was a math-science teacher in Denver in the 1970s when he decided to supplement his salary by driving trucks in the summer.
For 21 summers, he was a long-haul driver for United Van Lines. For the last three years of his trucking career, Wooldridge was the head trainer and safety officer for Johnston Storage & Moving in Denver, a United Van Lines agency.
Wooldridge drove 18-wheel long-haul rigs in all 48 states of the lower U.S. and in Canada. He ran 48- and 53-foot freight boxes, with extensive experience on the Interstate highways.
Today, Wooldridge is a professional writer who specializes in non-fiction adventure books. He writes two columns a week on the Internet and hosts a radio show on the Republic Broadcasting Network twice a week.
Piety owns a private business in Los Angeles. She declined to name it because of her concern local pro-illegal immigration groups would harass her in response to organizing "Truck-Out."
Truck-Out? I would have called it Truck-Off.
guess they are not interested in globalization, off to indoctrination camps for them
Jamming the beltway and other roads that are used by citizens wont get much of a positive reaction from me. I dont know about the rest of you. I dont care if they circle the White House and the Capitol but when they jam me up I am going to say bring in the Mexicans.
Of course we all realise that Mexicans will drive cheaper,but dos anyone really believe that cost savings wil reach our pocketbooks.
I am for American drivers and American trucks and against allowing Mexican trucks into this country, but attacking Americans on the Highways with rolling roadblocks isnt the way to do it.
This is worth a BTTT.
When Duncan Hunter and Dianne Feinstein basically agree- it’ really ought to wake folks up..
~snip~
...WND previously reported an amendment introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., into the Fiscal Year 2007 Supplemental Appropriations Bill is designed to block the pilot test until the Mexican government authorizes U.S. trucking companies to operate in Mexico. ...
~snip~
...Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose NAFTA Trucking Safety Act is now working its way through House committees, commented to WND on the “Truck-Out” boycott.
“The growing opposition to the pilot program and the overall effort to grant cross-border truckers immediate and direct access into the United States should not be ignored,” he said.
“People have a right to be concerned with the Mexican truck pilot program,” said Hunter, “especially when it could potentially compromise their safety and our nation’s security.” ...
~snip~
The Washington beltway and the interstate “spokes” that feed it are overcapacity every day, including weekends. There are always rolling backups of 15 mph (5 mph many times).
Anyone who hears the DC area’s broadcast radio stations (& webcasts) is very familiar with “Occoquan to Springfield mixing-bowl”, “Wilson Bridge from Telegraph Road to the merge at I-295”, “Legion Bridge to the I-270 split”, etc.
It was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin logs
Cab over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin hogs
We’s headed for bear on eye-one-oh
About a mile outta Shakeytown
I says Pigpen, this here’s the Rubber Duck
And I’m about to put the hammer down
Coz we got a little old convoy rockin’ thru the night
Yeah we got a little old convoy aint she a beautiful sight
Come on and join our convoy aint nothin’ gonna get in our way
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy ‘cross the USA
Convoy
By the time we got into Tulsa town we had 85 trucks in all
But they’s a roadblock up on the cloverleaf
And them bears ‘s wall to wall
Yeah them smokeys ‘s thick as bugs on a bumper
They even had a bear in the air
I says Callin’ all trucks, this here’s the Duck
We about to go a-huntin’ bear
Coz we got a great big convoy rockin’ thru the night
Yeah we got a great big convoy aint she a beautiful sight
Come on and join our convoy aint nothin’ gonna get in our way
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy across the USA
Convoy
Well we rolled up Interstate Forty-Four
Like a rocket sled on rails
We tore up all of our swindle sheets
And left ‘em sittin’ on the scales
By the time we hit that Shi town
Them bears was a-gettin’ smart
They bought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard
There’s armoured cars and tanks and jeeps
And rigs of every size
Yeah them chicken coops was full of bears
And choppers filled the skies
Well we shot the line
We went for broke
With a thousand screaming trucks
And eleven longhaired friends of Jesus
In a chartreuse microbus
Well we laid a strip for the Jersey shore
Prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn’t have a doggone dime
I says Pigpen this here’s the Rubber Duck
We just aint gonna pay no toll
So we crashed the gate doin’ ninety-eight
I says Let them truckers roll, ten-four
Coz we got a mighty convoy rockin’ thru the night
Yeah we got a mighty convoy aint she a beautiful sight
Come on and join our convoy aint nothin’ gonna get in our way
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy across the USA
Convoy
Artist/Band: Brandt Paul
Lyrics for Song: Convoy
That’ll be one doosey of a carbon footprint.
Please tell me you just forgot a /sarc on that.
The idea of mexican trucks being used on American highways is completely wrong. They will be unsafe and not forced to follow the multi-inspection, and multi-road tax process that the rest of the American Trucking Industry has to follow. In short there will be a distinct advantage given to the mexican trucking industry.
The final result will be American Truckers suffering in an already extremely competitive industry. This is neither fair to our truckers nor is it right.
This attempt to bring in the mexican truckers is merely an attempt to wipe out the border between USA and mexico. We need to be out there with the truckers supporting them. The inconvenience of this going on is nothing compared to the problems that these trucks will bring on us. Just the amount of deaths on the roads with these trucks is enough to say no.
This sounds like it could be trouble. Civil unrest, even. So I’m all for it. :)
Imagine the case where there is an accident and the American dies.
Will insurance pay off? What if there is no insurance? At the least all Mexican trucks should be required to have a bond in place to cover such situations.
Really? Canadian trucks are subject to all that; why wouldn't the Mexican trucks?
Don't confuse allowing their trucks to operate in the U.S. with allowing their poor people to move here illegally.
Yeah - but did they all purchase their required amount of offsets first?
American truckers plan to circle the White House and state capitals in a “rolling blockade” to protest a federal government plan to allow Mexican long-haul rigs to operate throughout the U.S.
MARKER
I have to applaud the truckers for taking action. A lot of people sit around bitching about illegal immigration and globalization but, don’t do a damn thing to stop it. At least these people, who may lose their livelihoods, are making a stand. Hopefully, this will be the start of a national movement to take back America.
So Cal is already floating in mexican truck drivers and it ain't pretty.
At one point they were trying to set up their own, independent, union. I don't know what became of that but it seems to have gone away.
I'd hope that is why DiFi went against ideology to oppose this program.
On the other hand, if she's pushing for US trucks operating in mexico, expect your insurance costs to skyrocket.
Just isn’t going to sound right in Espanol.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.