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To: freespirited
I haven't been a Teamster in decades, but do know that they have voted Republican before. Many "Teamsters" are independent truck owners who need to be in the union to get access to certain locations. That certainly doesn't make them Democrats. My father was a Teamster that had never voted Democrat in his life. He was an independent truck owner that hired drivers for his trucks and paid scale for union jobs and less than scale for non union jobs. I would estimate most truck owners fit this scenario.

As far as the Mexican trucker situation goes, I'm not sure where that is today. The first I was aware of it was when Clinton signed NAFTA. The truckers were incensed and I don't know if allowances were made. I do know that a terrible wreck in Corrigan Texas was caused by a Mexican truck with failed brakes went through a light at 70mph and "T boned" a woman and her child and ended up in an Exxon station across the street and burned it to the ground. There was no hiding it because electricity was knocked out over a wide area and important phone lines also burned. There was a huge stink over that and I wasn't aware that trucks were allowed on the US side at the time. The trucks were supposed to dump their loads at the border and a US truck and driver was supposed to take over from there. If its going south, we would dump the load and the Mexican driver and truck would take it from the border.

This has been the sticking point since day one. Their trucks don't have safety requirements and ours are picked clean by the DPS and it costs us more $$ to deliver a load. The Mexicans could put American truckers out of business just on operation costs alone. They can pay them a dollar an hour and put them behind the wheel of a rolling bomb against a US driver and truck.

This part of "free trade" can never be worked out. We can never guarantee the driver is fit to drive even if we inspect their trucks at the border each trip to the US. I know there are several deaths every year from Mexican drivers, but I don't know if they are driving here legally.

If you just look at the regulations US drivers go through, there is no way a Mexican driver and truck could stand up to it.

32 posted on 07/11/2011 11:41:07 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: chuckles

That was exactly my point. There is no way for American companies to compete either in driver salary or safety regs. American shipping companies just got put under with this crap and since the TSA is BUYING THE COMPUTERS FOR THE MEXICAN TRUCKS, we are paying to give our jobs away.

This madness has GOT TO STOP!


38 posted on 07/12/2011 6:35:55 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to the chariot wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: chuckles; All

That was exactly my point. There is no way for American companies to compete either in driver salary or safety regs. American shipping companies just got put under with this crap and since the TSA is BUYING THE COMPUTERS FOR THE MEXICAN TRUCKS, we are paying to give our jobs away.

This madness has GOT TO STOP!


39 posted on 07/12/2011 6:36:08 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to the chariot wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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