First Mexican Truck to Enter US Within Days

[harvey007]

Source: Fox News Latino

"There's absolutely no upside to the program," said Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter's office. "It's a good example of foreign interests overtaking American interests, at the expense of jobs, security and safety. The program was a bad idea when it was created under NAFTA and it's a bad idea now. It should be stopped right away."



Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/10/19/first-mexican-truck-to-enter-us-within-days-pols-try-last-ditch-effort-to-stop/

[jtuck004]

1. Now, now, we destroyed much of their agricultural production and

whole lives by moving our manufacturing to Mexico so we could pay far less than our minimum wage.

Seems only fair, because this will negatively impact the lives of many people who work in our trucking industry. Too bad, 'cause the 99% insists on not investing in ourselves (well, so far, anyway), and that is one of the few industries that can still employ people at a living wage without a college degree. It will mean a net loss for us.

Still, American corporations will profit at the top, and truck drivers can always become home health care aides, or serve those little drinks with the umbrellas in them.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Please explain to me how "this will negatively impact the lives of many people in our trucking ...

industry"

As a trucker, I am really very curious how it is you or anyone else thinks this will affect American truckers.

And for the record, this won't be the "first" Mexican truck on American soil. Not by a long shot.

[jtuck004]

3. From what I have read this will unleash a flood of

lower-paid employees that will directly compete with current employees and owner-operators. It may include some questionable maintenance oversight, which might allow for lower costs at the expense of public safety - though that last point may well be overstated by competitors.

I know there have been trucks for some time, but from what I hear this opens the floodgates. Or at least people seem to be afraid it will.

Am I reading the wrong things?

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Answering both you and "Seacaves", below.

I think the biggest misunderstanding about this program from so many, INCLUDING it seems, Mr. Hoffa, is that there will be ABSOLUTELY NO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabotage">Cabotage undertaken by Mexican trucking firms. People seem to think that this will allow Mexican trucker to haul freight from one point inside the US to another inside the US. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, the concern that this will drive down wages is something I reject out-of-hand. None of these guys are going to be competing with the overwhelming majority of American truckers who haul freight inside the US and for those that hauled the border freight inland, there is a reciprocity provision in the agreement. Those that are competitive will make money hauling freight into Mexico.

As it stands now, and has for quite a long time, the process for getting a truck load of goods or material from Mexico into the US goes something like this;

1) Manufacturer loads goods onto a trailer at the factory in Mexico
2) Mexican trucking firm hooks up to trailer and takes it to the Mexican border town
3) It is dropped at a yard operated by a company specializing in cross-border traffic. Basically a freight forwarder.
4) Forwarder, using his own tractor, takes trailer across the border, with all customs paperwork, etc., and drops trailer at an American counterpart.
5) American counterpart takes trailer to destination or arranges for same.

If the trailer is owned by the Mexican company, it will likely be stripped and reloaded onto an American owned trailer for delivery in the US. If the trailer is owned by a large leasing fleet, like XTRA for instance, this step is not necessary, but from what I understand, reloading the freight onto another trailer is the most common.

Process for getting a similar load from a Canadian manufacturer into the US;

1) Manufacturer loads goods onto a trailer at the factory in Canada
2) Canadian trucking firm hooks up to the trailer and takes it to the US/Canadian border.
3) Canadian trucker clears customs and goes his merry way, delivering to the consignee.

No freight forwarder, no stripping and reloading, easy peasy, canadianeasy.

Once the Canadian trucker is empty, he absolutely can not pick up a load inside the US and deliver to another destination in the US. That is Cabotage and it isn't allowed. He CAN pick up a load destined for Canada however. No problem.

The same will be the case for the Mexican truckers.


To Seacaves who asked;

"Won't the Mexican truckers be trucking material that normally would be trucked by US truckers?"

Yes, to the extent that the system as it stand now is completely unfair to Mexican trucking firms as opposed to Canadian ones. No one complains that Canadian truckers are doing the same thing, and drivers from way the hell up in Quebec deliver all the way down to South Florida and all over the country. James Hoffa has NEVER said a damned thing about that traffic.


And though neither of you mentioned this, but it is in the article, one of the most vocal opponents to this has been Hoffa, speaking for the Teamsters. Well, I was a Teamster and I can say with some authority that the cross border, Mexican originated freight tonnage hauled by Teamsters is miniscule.

Now, before I get flamed or whatever, let me state that the safety of the equipment, the hours of service regs, the lack of English skills etc. are certainly valid concerns and must be addressed. But from what I read about the pilot program a couple years back, solutions for all those issues are in place.

[jtuck004]

10. Why in the heck would anyone flame a reasoned, thoughtful response?

Oh, oops, forgot where I was. :rofl:

As far as reciprocity, do we haul as freight into Mexico as they will into the US? Not a big point, perhaps, just curious.

That's good info, I hope it continues that American truckers are somewhat protected, because it is an important industry.

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. LOL...thanks for the chuckle!

"As far as reciprocity, do we haul as freight into Mexico as they will into the US? Not a big point, perhaps, just curious."

No, just as we send mostly empty containers back to China.

Lots of raw materials, but not too many finished products, obviously.
As much as crosses the border via truck/trailer, much, much more crosses via the railroads.

I remember an interesting story from back early in the 2000's about a railroad bridge crossing in Texas that was apparently a MAJOR corridor for rail traffic. There was either a derailment or some damage or perhaps the bridge was simply shut down for repairs, but what struck me was the comment made that within days - and I am talking no more than 3 days - trains headed south to cross that bridge were literally backed up for well over a hundred miles.

The amount of cross border trade between the US and both Canada and Mexico is just simply enormous. It is my opinion that this is long overdue, and it really does smack of Brown Peopleitis, if you will. The Canadians have NEVER had this sort of problem. But heaven forbid a brown skinned guy wants to deliver his load in the US. OH SHIT! We can't have that!!

[boppers]

24. Wow. A thoughtful, cogent, relevant, response.

Nicely done, sir.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. Well thanks! n/t

[Marrah_G]

33. Canadian wages and safety stanards are much closer to our own

Mexican truck drivers work for much lower wages.

But then again Obama's job Czar dude came right out and said American workers ask for to much money and they should be happy and cheering him for low wages like his Brazilian workers do. He thinks 13-18 dollars an hour to manufacture jet engines is a fabulous wage and people should be on their knees thanking him.

[Brickbat]

34. I have less of an issue with Canadian truckers because their wages are not being used to undercut

U.S. wages. Mexican wages are.

[octothorpe]

35. INGORED!

Just kidding. :P

Thanks for the write up on this. Who were these freight forwarder companies and who ran them? I take it they'd be against this, aye?

[seacaves]

4. Won't the Mexican truckers be trucking material that normally

would be trucked by US truckers?

[pa28]

6. If I owned a trucking company that hauled goods from the border I'd see an opportunity.

It seems to me I could set up shop in Mexico and replace my union workers back in the states with local labor at pennies on the dollar.

If I happened to be a trucker who hauled goods from the Mexican border to destinations in the states I'd probably be scouting around for a new job right now.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Just exactly how many freight haulers in the US do you think are Teamsters, anyway?

I have seen this sort of sentiment over and over again on DU and it is, quite frankly, nonsense.

The vast majority of truck freight tonnage moved in the US is moved by NON UNION LABOR.

Unfortunately, the Teamsters just do not have the membership they used to. The large Teamster carriers are what are known as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Less_than_truckload">"LTL" carriers anyway, and we are talking truckload freight, not LTL.

A perfect example of an LTL carrier is one that is likely the largest Teamster operation in existence today.

United Parcel Service

[Marrah_G]

31. bingo

[Marrah_G]

32. Taking jobs and lowering wages

[moondust]

8. Not just truckers.

China has apparently invested in some ports in Mexico in recent years. It's not hard to envision a scenario in which goods from Asia are unloaded at cheap labor ports in Mexico, bypassing unionized ports in the U.S., loaded onto Mexican trucks and dispatched to Wal-Marts and other destinations across the U.S.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1751225

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. yeah yeah yeah....it was Bollocks when that thread was put up....

and it is bollocks now.

I put about as much stock in that crap story as I did in the fuss made on DU a while back about the "Iranian Oil Bourse" that was supposed to wreck the oil trading going on in other major trading centers.

yeah. Sure. Not gonna happen.


Will they ship containers through Mexico to the US?

Yeah, probably.

Will any Longshoreman in Long Beach or Oakland or Seattle lose their jobs over it?

Not bloody likely.

Anyone that thinks so has never been to the Ports of Long Beach or Oakland or Seattle. I have. Many times, hauling freight out and delivering.

[moondust]

15. I hope you're right.

I really do.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. Well, time will tell.

And I could be wrong. I've been wrong before and I am sure I will be again.

But the fact is, the infrastructure required to dock, unload and transport the number of ships and containers that visit Western US ports is ASTOUNDING and one little piddly ass port in Mexico with 2500' of dock space isn't going to replace the capacity that is already in place in Long Beach, much less the other ports in the West.

Here. Take a few minutes and scroll around on this satellite shot;

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=33.7491787&lon=-118.2331467&z=13&l=0&m=b

Zoom WAAAY in. Move around. The amount of dock frontage, the number of container cranes, the miles of rail lines, the acres and acres of auto storage, the acres and acres of container yards, the freeway interchanges etc is really something to ponder.

You don't just replace something like that or move it down the road.

[moondust]

21. Looks good.

My concern would be the slow hemorrhaging of "some" jobs in trucking and dock work over time as China further develops the Mexican ports (apparently more than one). Every job counts in this economy. Allowing Mexican trucks into the U.S. would seem to enable this scenario. But I defer to your insider knowledge and experience...thx.

[indypaul]

43. You are absolutely correct

It took 20 years to give away the auto industry in Detroit.
Might not take that long to build a port since it wont be
necessary to create a retail market.

[KoKo]

14. The rule of "Unintended Consequences." The meme of: "Who could have known?"

[expatriate2mex]

47. I'm curious how the us did that, I have never seen us produce here,

but lots of mexican produce in the us. Produce is one thing that is WAY cheaper here, good luck making any money on us produce, even the stores from the us here sell mexican produce. Many other things not much cheaper or even higher, but fruit and veggies WAAAY cheaper. We just got oranges and tangerines for 8 pesos a kilo (2.2 lbs) each, It's over 13 pesos to a dollar (13 .71 today). Try trucking those down and making money on under 50 cents a pound selling either. Ears of corn, anywhere from 20 for 30 pesos to 40 for 40. Cornfields everywhere. You would be surprised at how many places in the us are using mexican produce it's so cheap, many restaurants and fast food places.

[Brickbat]

5. Looking forward to seeing how Transportes Olympic does, seeing as the FIRST company picked for this

pilot program was quietly dropped because it had so many safety issues. TO has its own, too, for that matter.

[KoKo]

12. Bush (Chimpy) couldn't get this through...but President Obama managed to get it passed.

Look out for the trucks which have different regulatory standards than our own Truckers have...and watch out for how the outsourcing costs our own Truckers jobs.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. More bollocks. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

16. K, R, and thanks for posting.

I'll be calling my reps about this.

[SHRED]

18. Terrible news

[OhioChick]

20. It sure as hell is n/t

[sarcasmo]

45. +1

[alp227]

22. why use FOX NEWS as a source anyway?

Thom Hartmann interviewed Teamsters' James Hoffa today about this.

BTW, Fox News Latino caused controversy with a headline "."

And I wonder if the Minutemen will chase after Mexican trucks as much as they like to harass even US citizens of Mexican descent who live on border regions. Anyone think there's a potential for human smuggling (and even more undocumented kids) with this?

[senseandsensibility]

23. All DUers should listen to your link from Thom Hartmann

It was a great interview, and too many don't know the facts behind the push against this.

[alp227]

25. agree, i'll post it on political vids nt

[Liberty Belle]

27. These trucks are a terrible idea -SD liberal Dem Bob Filner also opposes.

Locally the Border Patrol has nailed the Mexican trucks a bunch of times coming through loaded up with smuggled drugs and human contraband. The Mexican trucks are also extremely unsafe and have been caught in all kinds of safety violations. One that slipped past border inspectors was exposed this week by the Teamsters as unsafe to be on U.S. roadways. The Teamsters oppose this because it takes away good-paying union trucking jobs.

I am a journalism in CA and we've seen it all here. A stopped clock is right twice a day and Hunter is correct on this issue.

[vanbean]

42. Many Mexican trucks are unsafe and their drivers untrained.

They pose a risk to other drivers in cars and trucks.

[expatriate2mex]

48. I'll vouch for that.

Watch out, a lot fd trucks and busses here have front lug nuts with long spikes on them and they know how to use them. I know they have them in the us but most are plastic covers and not as long.

[lonestarnot]

28. Truckers may take care of that. :)

They may just park in the middle of freeways. :evilgrin:

[douglas9]

29. NAFTA, The Gift That Keeps On Giving n/t

[sarcasmo]

46. +1

[Marrah_G]

30. Way fuck over yet another industry

Fuck Washington and every political entity in it

[bigworld]

36. It's not only the loss of the trucker jobs, but the service jobs, too

These truckers get their trucks serviced in Mexico, fill up their tanks in Mexico, get their health care in Mexico... there are many Americans affected by this, not just truckers.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ieoeja]

38. Best argument I ever heard in favor of NAFTA was the boon it would be to American trucking.

No longer.

[Jazzgirl]

39. They have been coming across the border for quite some time.

I've been seeing them the last 3-4 years here in the DFW metro, especially Ft. Worth on I-35. And their trucks look terribly unsafe.

[humblebum]

40. But, I think there was a limit to how far inside the country they were allowed to go.

At some point North, the load had to be transfered to an American truck.

[humblebum]

41. This needs to be made illegal for the sake of American jobs.

The Democratic party used to stand up for the American worker. Hopefully it will here, again. To hell with NAFTA.

[Devil_Fish]

44. What a great idea..........

NOT.