Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

This guys a moron! Nothing needs to be changed at all! But you are seeing politics in action once again. If this becomes an issue, keep an eye on the contributors to the PACS. Some interesting things to be learned there.

The last few dozen Canadian drivers I’ve talked to…in places like Houston….don’t pay much attention to cabotage. They seem to run around in the lower forty eight for a few weeks until they have enough money then head on back home.

The last time I was IN Canada they pay VERY close attention to cabotage up there…when it comes to American truckers.

Double standard?

And I agree with porter. The ATA guy is a moron. The rules are fine….IF they were evenly enforced.

Mr. Kuntz is indeed full of bovine feces. This doesn’t surprise me that a comment like this would come out of a member of the ATA’s governing body. After all, they are also on the EOBR bandwagon and the speed limiter bandwagon. And, he was speaking in Ontario, one of the provinces pushing to have ALL trucks that operate within their borders equipped with speed limiters set at a max of 65 mph. Regardless of which side of the border they are domiciled on.

Not speaking for the ATA? If thats the case, why is he there representing the ATA at this meeting. Sounds like the Big 9 are wanting to use cheap labor to move freight here in the Lower 48. Somebody has their hand up this man’s back moving his mouth. I have yet to see the ATA do anything for a driver. If they said the sky was blue, I would argue with them because of what they represent. Will this also apply to the Mexican domiciled trucks when the cross border program becomes permanent? But, thats a post for another section.

This kind of garbage is one of the many reasons I am an OOIDA member. They have the only PAC that is trying to do something for the drivers and owner/operators.

I’ll get off my soapbox now.

the us really needs to enforce its cabotage laws. What did we do during the Clinton yrs after finding a Mex. truck in fl. nothing I can remember but open the broader to Mexico.

William,

What does the Clinton years have to do with anything? As I recall, in my case, I had 8 of the best damned years I had in this business in the 32 years I’ve been doing this.

If they found a Mexican truck in Florida during the Clinton years or the years of any other administration, chances are it was there with authority and legally.

You people seem to have a real hang up about Mexican trucks while the truth is, you wouldn’t recognize one if it came up beside you and blew it’s “La Cucaracha” horn in your face and Cheech Marin was at the wheel of the thing.

And for your information, Clinton prevented the cross border program from happening during his term in office.

Porter con
the truck I was remembering was not there legally an nothing was done by the DOT or anybody else.I would know a Mex. truck as I have seen a few.If you are trying to tell me the US government has kept the laws no matter who was in office I think you need to open your eyes an look a little closer.Clinton was a time frame as he was in office.Not all that has gone wrong has happened under Bush.Clinton did stop the cross border program which is not to say the truck was not there an nothing happened.

I fail to see your point!

How do you know the truck was not there legally? Could it have been that Florida DOT, who I personally know to be very anal about enforcement, had no reason to stop the truck?

Whether you realize it or not, Mexican carriers have been permitted to travel our highways for more than 40 years, before the moratorium that closed the highways to foreign trucks.

More than 1000 Mexican carriers were grandfathered in under the 1982 moratorium that Reagan signed. Some of these still travel the highways today under that authority, legally and safely.

It might interest you to know also that any Mexican carrier who has freight destined for Canada, can transit the United States without DOT authority. The only requirement is they cannot load or unload in the United States.

You know, this Mexican truck issue is a big non issue. If the border program was canceled tomorrow, many of the trucks authorized under the pilot program would continue to have authority to operate anywhere in the US they desired, providing they had a sister company in the US.

The same drivers, using the same Mexican CDL’s and Mexican plated trucks would be here. A good example of this is Transportes Olympics.

We have much more important things that should be occupying our minds and time than worrying about your prejudices against anything Mexican.

The HOS is a good starter. Speed limiters they are trying to cram down our throats is another. How about EOBR’s to monitor your every move? And how about the fact that you cannot turn on your XM radio without hearing about some moron in a big truck, running over a 4 wheeler. This on a daily basis.

People need to get their priorities straight and start thinking for themselves instead of letting people like Spencer, Hoffa and Claybrook do their thinking for them.

You know, last Wednesday morning, I was pulled around at the Nicholson Ms scales for a level 1 inspection by Mississippi DOT. Me and my 1999 Mexican owned Century. And I got to talking to the inspector, a real sweetie by the name of Jennifer Dubose.

I asked her about her experiences with the Mexican trucks and if she had problems with them.

Her response was that generally, there was no problem. Only once, she put a co driver out of service because he did not speak English to her standards. Fair enough.

She went on to say that the biggest problems they had were with the American truckers they had caught with contraband money in the trucks. Always more than $250,000.00 and always heading south. American truckers trying to make a quick buck. Go figure.

Let’s get our priorities straight and try to straighten our our own mess before we tackle something that has no impact on our daily lives

Oh, and by the way, my truck passed the inspection as it always does!