Posted on 08/31/2007 6:32:37 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO - The Bush administration can go ahead with a pilot program to allow as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies to freely haul their cargo anywhere within the U.S. for the next year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request made by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and the nonprofit Public Citizen to halt the program.
The appeals court ruled the groups have not satisfied the legal requirements to immediately stop what the government is calling a "demonstration project," but can continue to argue their case.
The trucking program is scheduled to begin Thursday.
In court papers filed earlier this week, the Teamsters and Sierra Club argued there won't be enough oversight of the drivers coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
They also argued that public safety would be endangered in a hasty attempt by the government to comply with parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The trade agreement requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico and Canada to be opened to carriers from all three countries.
Canadian trucking companies have full access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks can only travel about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings such as ones in San Diego and El Paso, Texas.
That’s when you’ve got crap weld jobs on the x-members to the rails in the underbody. Once the first few go nearest the coupler in the front, the rest come unglued like a zipper. The bogie, x-members, rails and box turn into flying debree.
LOLOL
Bring it on...
Me, too. I know exactally how you feel. I dread turning on the tv every morning.
How nice of them to come up with guidelines for motorists. How can we ever thank them?
Big rig trucks need to slow down in general. They need to remember they are driving 80,000 lbs weapons yet I only ever see one in 20 going the speed limit.
Go on any highway and go the speed limit and you will have the big rigs running up on your rear and then switching lanes to pass you at speed above the speed limit.
Modern cars can have accidents with each other (except head on) on the highway and not kill everyone. When a truck hits a car at highway speeds someone in the car is likely to die.
That is simple physics. My proposal is that if a truck is involved in a highway accident that kills someone in a car the truck driver will be subject to vehicular manslaughter. The police investigation can clear the truck driver if it is not his fault.
In our area (central PA) in the last 5 months 3 people in cars (cars that were not moving or going slow) were killed by trucks either running up on them or crossing over them.
Those drivers did not cut in front of the big rigs. They weren’t following in too closely, riding in the blind spot, or anything else. The big rigs were just using their 80K weapons carelessly and killed those people.
The truck driver from latest accident is now under a $1 million dollar bail on vehicular manslaughter charges. Hopefully he goes to jail for a long time.
Oh, no...I’d never promote such a thing. I do wonder about the quality of work from the mexican trailer manufacturers. Those are some very critical welds. :)
I’m going to go with the most current option avaiable for the Admin to clarify whether or not this is Bush’s program. I found...well, today’s White House Press Briefing Handy. Here’s a snip:
“Q Well, I have two questions. Teamsters President Hoffa has called the Bush administration’s test program to allow Mexican trucks unrestricted access to U.S. highways, in his words, “a disaster; all we’re asking is that Mexican trucks and truckers meet the same standards as American trucks and drivers.” My question: Why do the Teamsters have to go to court to try to make Mexican truck drivers meet the same drug screening, physical evaluations and hazmat certifications as U.S. truckers?
MR. SNOW: There are a number of things that the Department of Transportation is involved in, in trying to maintain and ascertain and guarantee the safety of any trucks that are on U.S. highways. I don’t think that I will buy lock, stock and barrel what the President of the Teamsters Union has to say about possibly competing trucking operations. Nonetheless, they have done a filing — I would direct you to take a look at what the Department of Transportation has had to say to respond to some of the factual allegations contained in your question.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070831-7.html
*** I’d say that was the most current and best available option for the WH to clarify, re-phrase, or spin who’s program this is. So that’s that.
Great Catch/Post,,,That Should Make It Clear To ALL !!!
Yes...yes...of course ;) Hypothetically theorizing (lol)
All that aren’t blinded anyway. Remember the ‘even when you put right in front of them’ saying? lol
Sadly,,,Yes I Do...:0/
and likely a great many Mexican truck drivers WILL BE DRUNK DRIVING too....all you have to do is watch the news and see how many illegals are drunk, driving, and killing with vehicles.
Ultimately, all blame is the voters. It is the voters that continue to elect those that sell the nation short. The voters latch on to one or two catch phrase promises uttered by a politician and could care less what else the politician or political party has planned to repay large contributors.
I can’t think of one good thing about this development. It’s so discouraging to see what our leaders are doing to this country.
I will offer this advice. When the EU opened up all the borders...and all these Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, and Bulgarian trucks started passing via Germany...the Germans started up a tough vehicle safety act (with real vehicle inspectors...not cops). They would pull a truck over and immediately demand a inspection. If you failed anything in the medium-safety area...they would bring you over to the county office inspection station and conduct an intensive inspection. Most trucks brought to the station...always failed and were immediately ordered into a compound area where it’d sit until they were properly repair (in that city).
So several things started to occur. The inspections units were pulling in $250k a month easily within their zones....which paid for a dozen inspectors and their vehicles easily. The repair garages near the inspection stations...started to turn more profit than they normally would have. And unsafe vehicles? Oh, they were taken off the road and forced to sit idle....which meant a loss in income.
The federal judges can do just about anything they want...but at the county and state level...you can organize these inspection laws and bring in millions to your district. I wouldn’t waste time on this...the money is yours easily. And if the folks just leave the truck there with its cargo...fine...you just seize the stuff after 30 days and give the money to the local school district. Everyone wins in the end.
Unsafe vehicles...can be a profit machine for everyone in the end.
On September 11, 2001 our president could SHOULD have closed down our borders.
ping for later
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