Thursday marks the end of the public comment period for the Mexican Truck Issue. Make your voice heard in Washington by going here and filling out a comment form. The docket number is FMCSA-2007-28055. Don’t miss out on the chance to let the people who will make the decision on letting Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways what you think.
You can also see what others have commented, here are a few samples that I found while looking into this very important issue:
“We operated into Mexico border area to deliver or Pick up US loads for a few years after Nafta was passed the procedure was to turn in a list of drivers and equipment to the Mexican Customs authority and pay a fee of $10 per truck. After a few years Mexican DOT began to seize our trucks and loads and demand a fine of up to $1500 per truck to have our truck released” Owner of a small trucking company
“leave the border the way it is. we have enough problems with illegals now. what makes you think that a mexican driver who can’t speak,read or write our language is going to b e safe on the highways..you think you have a prob lem now with illegals and drugs being smuggled into our country, wait and see..”
“We must keep the borders closed to Mexican trucks. If they are opened it will effect the safety of our highways and the safety of the American people”
“To impose this pilot program will only increase the number of fatalities that I see”
“I feel that the mexican trucks pose a risk to security”
So far there are 38 pages of comments on the site and most are like the ones above. Make your voice heard and get those comments in.
Be Safe;
Don Rogers
I’m not sure if I like this comment system for FMCSA or not. You don’t know if these people know what they’re talking about. The same process happened with the Hours of Service. Plus groups could flood the comments with their own agenda. Just because there are a lot of comments, doesn’t mean they are right.
I wonder how much weight FMCSA puts in these comments?
It is obvious they do not know what they are talking about and are only putting down talking points they have heard on trucking radio and from those on the road that would not know a Mexican truck if it came up and bit them, er, tapped them on the shoulder.
And reading the comments, it makes one wonder what has happened to education in America. These comments could have been written by a 6th grade Special Ed class.
Wayne, I have it on very good authority, straight from the horses mouth so to speak, that while the FMCSA does read these comments, the ones they take seriously are the ones well written that show independent thought.
You see, people are using anecdotal evidence of things that may or may not have happened in years past. And the truth be known, I was out here in the days when Mexican trucks shared the road with us, and I do not remember any of the “carnage” and fatalities that the opponents are so positive will occur.
and check this out people. The Mexican trucks are already in the country, past the 20 mile commercial zone. Each week as I leave Laredo going north, I pass at least a half dozen going the same way. They can be found in the Love’s in Encinal Texas minding their own business.
These guys are no threat to highway safety, our economy or our jobs.
I go to Laredo often enough to see the type of equipment operated by Mexican truckers. Most is old, often retired from U.S. fleets and sent to Mexico. Most are old, beat-up and have seen better days. Most would never stand up to the emission standards that we have now.
As far as the comments on the issue are concerned, I hope the FMCSA does pay attention to them, and one thing about people willing to go the extra mile to comment on a issue like this is that they will also go to the voting booth. There is nothing in the Constitution that says you have to be literate to have a voice. There is also nothing in ti that says we have to give away American jobs or sacrifice safety just to please Mexico and big business.
You are correct to a point Don. What you are seeing are cross border shuttle trucks that operate between the maquilla’s in Nuevo Laredo and the forwarding houses in Laredo Texas.
These trucks are retired from U.S. fleets and have found new life doing what they do.
They do meet U.S. emissions standards for the year they were manufactured, just as the trucks of similiar vintage which still belong to U.S. fleets do.
However, these same trucks cross Texas DPS inspection facilities each time they cross the border. Or all of them physically inspected? Of course not, visually yes, physically no, unless something catches the inspectors eyes.
But you see, your comment is what most people truly believe, that these are representative of Mexican long haul trucks, and they’re not.
Look in the photo gallery on http://mexicotrucker.com and you will see road trucks and buses.
If anybody has bothered to read exactly how the FMCSA is conducting this program, the checks and balances in place, you will see that nowhere is safety being sacrificed or ignored. To the contrary, these guys are being held to a higher standard than American or Canadian truckers.
The economic impact? Negligible! There is so much freight moving both ways across the border that there are not enough trucks to haul what’s there. I know. We’re deadheading to Laredo every week from points in Texas to get it and at a good rate.
I’ll throw this out there for you and anyone else interested. When you come to Laredo, give me a heads up. Dinner is on me and a tour of Nuevo Laredo, the trucking community, anything you care to see and then make up your own mind.
Not trying to be confrontational. Simply stating the facts.