AP: 1st Mexican truck scheduled to enter US interior today

[Poll_Blind]

From http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gurLltuFudvg1JWQu7GfR5NcB-0Q?docId=58e5d748872f46378fed90c642ff8ace">AP:

LAREDO, Texas (AP) — Nearly two decades after the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Mexican truck hauling electronics was to become the first to deliver goods deep inside the U.S. as part of a long-delayed provision of NAFTA.

The shipment to a Dallas suburb was expected to cross the border around midday Friday, beginning a trucking program that has been stalled for years by concerns that it would put highway safety and American jobs at risk.

Hours before a ceremony to mark the occasion, Mexico announced it was canceling punitive tariffs imposed on American goods over the U.S. refusal to allow the trucks. But the Mexican government warned that if the accord is not respected by the United States, the tariffs could be reinstated.

--snip--

The public debate surrounding the accord had mostly focused on the safety of Mexican trucks. But labor unions and other groups were strongly opposed to the agreement because they said it would cost Americans trucking and other jobs.

Free trade! Free trade!

Hey- wait I forgot about the glorious flip-side: American trucks can carry goods deep into Mexico now, too! How excited do you think American truckers are to haul loads deep into Mexico? How about the companies that insure those loads? Here's a hint:

7/12/2011:http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2011/Jul11/071111/071211-01.shtml">TSA report: Criminals hijacked 10,000 Mexican truckloads in 2010
9/21/2011:http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/217812/20110921/mexico-murder-drug-war-bodies.htm">35 Bodies Publicly Dumped in Veracruz, Mexico
7/14/2010:http://jacqui.instablogs.com/entry/twelve-bodies-found-dumped-along-tamaulipas-mexico-highway/#ixzz0tgSf8cgH">Twelve bodies found dumped along Tamaulipas, Mexico highway **GRAPHIC WARNING**
5/21/2008:http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20080521-1224-mexico-drugs-.html">Two policemen shot, bodies dumped on Mexico highway

Get the picture? It's not like everyone in America isn't already aware of the control that violent criminal organizations have in Mexico, anyway. Not to mention the fact that counterfeit/pirated goods are commonly available in Mexico and their production and sale is closely tied to http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html#crime">organized crime(See: Pirated Merchandise)

As if it couldn't get any worse:
10/15/2011:http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/10/15/DeFazioreiteratesconcernsaboutMexicoprogram.aspx">DeFazio reiterates concerns about Mexico program

“As I have said many times, a cross-border trucking program stands to have significant impacts on safety, security and job loss,” DeFazio said in a statement released by his office. “Until these impacts are fully addressed, we should put the brakes on cross-border operations. Unfortunately, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued the first permit to launch a new pilot program. Adding insult to injury, the Mexican carriers approved will be outfitted with vital safety equipment (EOBRs) paid for by American taxpayers. It is simply unacceptable that U.S. truckers, through their fuel tax, will subsidize the cost of doing business for these Mexican carriers."

This bullshit trucking program is a one way street that is going to benefit Mexico and a dead end for American truckers.

PB

[Romulox]

1. Similar to Clinton, this admin is attacking working people in ways the Repubs wouldn't dare.

"Free trade" with Korea, and now THIS? :wtf:

[lbrtbell]

2. Words fail me. n/t

[leftstreet]

3. Unfuckingbelievable n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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

[Ikonoklast]

5. Until NAFTA is re-negotiated, this is the law.

I know of *no* U.S. trucking firms that have plans to run into Mexico.

There is no reciprocity under this agreement, as Mexico is unsafe for American truckers.

The good news is for you drug users, shipping prices will come down on many varieties of illegal substances, as this country HAS NO WAY TO INSPECT EVERY TRUCK CROSSING THE BORDER.

None.

[Poll_Blind]

10. And this interesting video shows both Sen. Clinton and Obama falling over themselves to prove how...

...strong they'd each be in order to re-negotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsO_hL73fEM">HERE

Did any such a renegotiation take place? It sure doesn't look like it, by any stretch of the imagination.

PB

[Uncle Joe]

6. For this to even stand a chance of succeeding, both nations must end the so called war on drugs.

Thanks for the thread, Poll_Blind.

[demosincebirth]

7. Canadian trucks have been delivering good here for years and nothing

has ever been said about them. If the Mexican trucks abide by our laws and safety rules. Whats the problem.? Most of them are probably unionized anyway, that's more that we can say for our truckers. I think it's an obvious double standard against the Mexican truckers

[Poll_Blind]

8. Did you read the material in my post?

:shrug:

PB

[demosincebirth]

9. Yes I read you post. My point was why all the resistance all off these years.

As a former teamster, unless they know more, where and how will teamster jobs be affected? Owner operator, seems to me, would be the only ones, truly, affected by this.

[itsrobert]

12. This is about bypassing US Ports altogether

How much do Teamsters pickup/deliver to US Ports?

[demosincebirth]

13. Believe it or not, not much. Ninety percent of the cargo coming out

any port in the U.S. is in containers, hauled and delivered by non-union truckers leased to businesses, retail and warehousing -- also put directly on rail cars and hauled cross-country to another port to be shipped again. Very little cargo is handled by Teamsters. That's our (teamsters) fault, for sure and the inability of the Democrats to get laws passed making it easier for unions to get a fair shake when trying to organize...like the EFCA. That certainly would level the table.

[Ikonoklast]

11. There is no real reciprocity in this agreement.

The Mexican Federal Government cannot guarantee the safety of U.S. domiciled carriers in Mexico.

And unionized Mexican carriers? You're kidding, right?


There is no pay disparity between Canadian carriers and U.S. carriers, but between those two and Mexican carriers, it's dramatic.

[demosincebirth]

14. Eighty percent of trucking companies in the U.S. are non union, freight carriers are

not the unions concern, its the drivers that Labor tries to organize

[Ikonoklast]

15. I'm an O/O.

I know a bit about the trucking industry; I also know a bit about unions, as I was a UFCW member for 24 years, and a shop steward.