Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Ok, if you don’t already know it, most US truck drivers are petrified about going into Canada. I have to admit the first time I crossed-over I was too. Much of the problem lies in the fact that many carriers are plain and simply stupid when it comes to handling cross border shipments – and most dispatchers have never been outside the town they were born in. They have no clue that you will need $45 to go both ways over the Ambassador bridge or what delivering or loading in Canada entails.

And so the poor inexperienced underpaid truck driver, overcome by fear of the unknown, is faced to fly solo without the proper information to cross the border correctly. No wonder some US border agents are – cranky – to say the least. Having repowered many loads within 150 miles of Windsor/Detroit from drivers panic stricken and/or without the proper credentials, I know what goes on inside their heads. And I don’t blame them, especially since they (we) don’t get paid any extra to deliver and reload there.

I happen to enjoy Canada – not the French part – just the rest of it. I have had a “need” to visit Nova Scotia – but have yet to do it. I want to see the whales off the Canadian coast up close and in person. I believe truck drivers from the Ontario Province are a cut-above American drivers. If I had a problem or were in a jam – like stuck in the snow – I would want Canadian drivers helping me – and they have – while the Americans stood around chewing tobacco and whining. The old joke applies – it takes one Canadian driver to change a light bulb whereas it takes 5 American drivers to stand around arguing about how to do it. US drivers have little or no pride in what they do – Canadian drivers do.

Up in Canada I can smoke a Cuban. I like their money. They have a two dollar coin with a polar bear floating on an ice chunk on one side and a engraving of the Queen on the other. Over time, I could even get to like hockey and follow the Toronto Maple Leafs. I once went to a hockey game in Tampa and it was pretty exciting. More so no doubt than the 6 driver 1 car 1 tire brand over commercialized bureaucratic don’t speed into the pits truly boring Nascar. Curling, however, the “sport” with the brooms and the rock sliding on ice, will always be weird to me. The jury is out on the whole ice fishing thing.

For the enlightened – PARS into Canada and ACE into the US. There is no other way to do it. Last week, in the US, I waited an hour to get up to the customs – I mean Homeland Security booth and it took 3 minutes to clear the shipment. And the agent was pleasant probably because I had my act together with my passport and drivers license and paperwork ready and organized. So the whole NAFTA thing seems to be working between the US and Canada. That took years. By the way, in Ontario the whole speed limiter “requirement” is absurd, but when I was up there a week ago, there were NO trucks going the “required” 100 kilometers per hour. That’s 60 MPH. It was more like 110 kilometers per hour or 70 mph.

So – let’s move South to Laredo or El Paso. If US drivers are afraid of going into Canada, there is no way they’re going into Mexico. It doesn’t happen now anyway since brokers process and transport the loads across the border, but someday it will. The Obama Administration can’t seem to move on anything right now let alone the whole Mexican cross border trucking issue. They’re probably waiting for a stormy night and some foreign crisis to sneak through the go ahead for the program to proceed. The Transportation Secretary – Hood – like all Cabinet “officers” are powerless to act on anything without Obama’s, Pelosi’s and Reed’s meddling. The last time Cabinet Secretaries had any real power was back during the FDR administration.

So, again, if a driver is uneasy crossing into Canada, then going into Mexico would be like an episode of Survivor in Borneo. First and most importantly, Canadians speak English, the Mexicans don’t. And as with most lazy Americans, our Mexican counterparts don’t seem to be in any rush to learn a second language – even those living in the US. Yes, yes, so here come the e-mails – racist, moron, twerp, jerk, idiot, etc. Whatever. It is a fact, that unlike Canada, Mexico is NOT safe. The last I heard there were no drug lords or cocaine king pins with automatic weapons in and around Toronto or anywhere else in the Ontario Province waiting to hijack your load or kidnap you for ransom. By the way, if you work for Swift, JB Hunt or Covenant Transport, you’re toast. Do you think they’re going to pay the cartel $125K for your butt. No way.

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Mexican Kenworth T660 on the free road between Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey is typical of Mexican line haul trucks in operation on Mexican highways today. Gone or the days of what could be perceived as

The days after the one year mark of the Mexican Cross Border Program, and exactly one year to the day that the first truck crossed the border to inaugerate the program, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 395-18 voted to end the controversial Mexican Cross Border Program.

For one year, these 100 trucks have operated safely with ZERO accidents and ZERO serious safety issues further reinforcing the statistics that show Mexican carriers have a lower OOS rate than their counterparts. The past year proved that Mexican carriers can operate under our laws and regulations, do so safely and with no impact on American trucking jobs or economics.

But this is not enough to satisfy those such as Jimmy Hoffa, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Despite evidence to the contrary, he still cannot utter the words, “Mexican Trucks” without putting “dangerous”, “unsafe” or “illegal” as a preface.

So Hoffa and his protectionists allies in Congress have won a battle but the war still rages. There is a continuing groundswell of support from mainstream media outlets, and business groups such as National Association of Manufacturers who quit out of character for them, came out and told it like others are afraid to do. Treaties? Trade Agreements? We’ll Violate Them with Impunity Tough talk but brutally honest.

The US Chamber of Commerce issued a “key vote” letter to lawmakers urging them to reject the bill. A “key vote’ letter is indicative of the seriousness of the issue and shows intent to place the members votes on a voters scorecard.

Retaliation Expected
As I am writing this, the a statement was released by the Mexican Embassy in Washington.

“Mexico has fulfilled its NAFTA obligations and expects the U.S. do the same. Should the bill be enacted into law, the government of Mexico will consider taking all the appropriate actions, including remedies or countermeasures under the North American Free Trade Agreement,” the embassy statement said.

As well they should and they have every right to do so.

Sadly, this demonstrates not the “will of the people” of is suppose to be the reason Congress exists, but the “will of special interests”.

Over the past year, I’ve had conversations in truck stops, over the CB radio, will American truckers. Most could care less about the Mexican trucks. The overwhelming opinion is if they play by the rules, they don’t have a problem.

I’ve run with other truckers on the highway and passing one of these Pilot Program participants, asking my running buddies what they thought about that “dangerous Mexican truck” we had just passed. They could not tell the Mexican truck from any others.

The truth is, this program has not effected any one of us in this industry nor in this country. Nor can it. The numbers just don’t add up.

More of my thoughts on my website where I can be my usual lovable, logical self.

And after a long dry spell, I have returned!

After months of hype smear campaigns by the plaintiffs, the lawsuit against FMCSA over the cross border program was heard by a three Judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday, February 12.

Some of the issues raised, included the parties “standing” in the action, the legality of continuing the program in view of the flawed amendment inserted into the Omnibus spending bill signed by President Bush in December and the statistical validity of the results with so few participants.

Out of the gate, the attorney representing Teamsters, Public Citizen and Sierra Club was asked by one of the Jurists, why and for what reason was Sierra Club a party to this action for which he become slightly combative with the Judge and had no good explanation for their presence. It was suggested they were merely a party to share in attorney fees should the plaintiff’s prevail.

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Nope, I don’t have a crystal ball and my record of predicting the future is anything but stellar; just a quick look at my buy and sell choices in the stock market, over the last 20 years, would leave you convinced that the title of this post is dripping with audacity. That’s why it’s couched as a question rather than a statement. You’ll do well to consider my assertions, read the source material, and come to your own conclusions.

I just finished reading a very interesting post by Dan Goodwill titled “NASCO (North America’s Super Corridor Coalition)” and it got me to thinking. First, a little background so you know where I’m going with this. Back in October I authored a post in which the issue of some new regulations being proposed for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were thoroughly inspected. Well, as thoroughly inspected as possible in a blog post. The entry didn’t seem to generate much interest, maybe very few folks figured it would impact them directly, so I didn’t bother following up with a post when the regulations were adopted in early December or when the new container fees were approved about ten days later. Read the rest of this entry »

President Bush signed the $555 Omnibus Spending bill despite misgivings about the record 9000 special earmarks included. Included in the bill was a small paragraph that opponents of the program celebrated as the end to the cross border program.

Moments later, FMCSA issued a press release making known their intent to carry forward with program.

FMCSA made it clear they were following the wording of the amendment which stated:

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We haven’t touched on this subject for awhile and since it seems the opponent and others are beginning to throw around their distorted version of events, perhaps it’s time we revisit the subject.
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On November 14, the house approved the Transportation spending bill with Amendment 624 intact.

For those not familiar, Amendment 624 is the attempt to stop funding for the Mexican truck program.

For now, the bill is not expected to go to the Senate for vote until they return from the Thanksgiving recess. If passed, it would go to the President for his promised veto, which I support fully. Action on this bill probably would not occur until after Congress resumes in 2008. At this point, the Mexican truck program, consisting of 7 Mexican carriers with a total of 44 trucks, and 4 US companies operating a total of 41 trucks in Mexico will have been in existence for almost 6 months, operating safely and without complaint.
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How stupid do people think we are?

Coming off a peaceful and productive weekend, I was surprised (well, not really) to see where one of my spiders had come up with this piece of gutter journalism. Feds outsource Mexican truck safety – Trilateral trade association becomes chief inspector.

I was less surprised to see some of the smear sites quickly pick up on it and run it front page.

Has it gotten down to this? The opponents of the Mexican Demonstration Program have exhausted all manners of rhetoric and need to resort to destroying a well established safety group? Apparently so.

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The opponents and most vocal critics of the Mexican Pilot Program continue to insist their opposition is only about safety and concern over the economic impact a few Mexican trucks will have on their ability to earn a decent living. Facts and figures would suggest otherwise.

Thursday, October 4, a small group of Mexican truckers gathered at the Matamoros-Brownsville International bridge to protest Mexico’s participation in the Demonstration Program

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This little item just came across my news feed followed by a notice from Melissa at FMCSA, and boys and girls, they done slipped one past us!

FMCSA to Initiate Real-Time Tracking for Mexican and U.S. Trucks Participating in the Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project
Tracking system would monitor hours of service, cabotage and vehicle position

Ya’ll know what this means don’t you? They kill two or three canaries with one stone.

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