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 ...
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.
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