Thread: Truckers Protest Mexican Competition

Truckers Protest Mexican Competition

Friday September 7, 2007 3:31 AM


By ELIZABETH WHITE

Associated Press Writer

LAREDO, Texas (AP) - Dozens of truckers rallied at Mexican border crossings in California and Texas Thursday to protest a pilot program to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to haul their cargo anywhere in the United States.

Carrying signs reading ``NAFTA Kills'' and ``Unsafe Mexican Trucks,'' a few dozen protesters circled in the heat for two hours at Laredo's port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border.

``What do we want? Safe highways. When do we want them? Now!'' they chanted.

The U.S. Transportation Department issued the first permit Thursday to Transportes Olympic, based in a suburb of Monterrey, Mexico. It won the permit after Mexico granted authority to Stagecoach Cartage & Distribution Inc. of El Paso, Texas, to travel anywhere in Mexico.

Both companies can cross the border immediately but may not do so for several days while they determine new routes, said John Hill, who runs the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates truck safety.

``What we're hearing from the carriers is they could be ready to go as soon as days from now,'' Hill told reporters on a conference call from Washington.

The U.S. plans to give as many as 25 Mexican firms permission by the end of September and add another 25 companies each month until hitting 100 by the end of this year under the one-year program, Hill said.

Mexico has also committed to allow as many as 100 U.S. firms anywhere in Mexico by the end of this year, he said, and 14 are poised to receive permission.

So far, 38 Mexican trucking firms have been prescreened to go anywhere in the U.S., Hill said.

The Teamsters union, Sierra Club and watchdog group Public Citizen had sued to stop the program, arguing there wouldn't be enough oversight of drivers, but a federal appeals court ruled the Bush administration could move ahead.

Government lawyers said the program is a necessary part of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the trucks would meet U.S. regulations.

Near San Diego's Otay Mesa border crossing, dozens of truckers led by the Teamsters mixed with anti-illegal-immigration activists. Business was uninterrupted, said Lt. Hector Paredes of the California Highway Patrol, which inspects about 3,000 trucks a day at the crossing.

``We're already inspecting Mexican trucks and will continue to inspect them the same way,'' Paredes said. ``These trucks already haul product from Tijuana to San Diego. Now they will be able to go beyond San Diego.''

Critics such as Teamsters organizer Hugo Flores doubt that Mexican drivers will be held to the same rules, such as the length of work shifts and drug testing.

``There are no means to regulate these guys. Bush has opened up highways to unsafe trucks,'' Flores said at the Laredo protest. ``I don't want them sharing the roads with my family.''

NAFTA requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico and Canada be opened to carriers from all three countries. Canadian trucking companies already have full access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks can travel only about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings.

The pilot program is designed to study whether opening the U.S.-Mexico border to all trucks could be done safely.

The government says it has imposed rigorous safety protocols, including drug and alcohol testing for drivers done by U.S. companies. Additionally, law enforcement officials have stepped up nationwide enforcement of a law requiring interstate truck and bus drivers to have a basic understanding of written and spoken English.

Besides the safety issues, Flores said there are also concerns about job security and pollution from emissions.

``Now they're trying to export all our driving jobs to Mexico,'' Flores said. ``That's one less American job.''

At a Petro truck stop near El Paso along Interstate 10, reactions to the program were mixed.

Carlos Moreno, who has been a truck driver for nearly four decades, said he doesn't begrudge anyone trying to make a living.

``There's enough for all of us,'' said Moreno, an El Paso resident.

But he is concerned that some of the drivers from Mexico can't read highway signs written in English. ``You can always tell in construction zones,'' he said.

Omar Nunez, a 34-year-old driver from Pecos, said he worries that freight prices will drop as shippers turn to Mexican trucking companies that may offer cheaper services.

``As it is, I'm barely making it right now,'' he said.

Among those most concerned were a group of drivers gathered at the Flying J truck stop in Edinburg, Texas. Much of their business has come from picking up loads that Mexican drivers previously had to leave at the border.

``That's my business,'' said Gerald Fernow, 36, from Flatonia, Texas. ``What am I supposed to do? I'm screwed.''

---

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Alicia A. Caldwell in El Paso and Lynn Brezosky in Edinburg.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/s ... 92,00.html

THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO BE UPSET...THESE BILLS HAVE SET IN CONGRESS FOR 5 MONTHS AND NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE WITH THEM....


Click here: Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
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H.R.1773
Title: To limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to grant authority to motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border.
Sponsor: Rep Boyda, Nancy E. [KS-2] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (52)
Related Bills: H.R.1756
Latest Major Action: 5/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
House Reports: 110-147SUMMARY AS OF:
5/15/2007--Passed House amended. (There are 2 other summaries)
Latest Major Action: 5/16/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
House Reports: 110-147


(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on May 14, 2007. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Safe American Roads Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from granting a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico authority to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border, except that the Secretary may carry out, in accordance with certain federal motor carrier safety and inspection laws and regulations and this Act, a pilot program that allows not more than 100 of such carriers, and not more than 1,000 of their vehicles, to operate beyond such municipalities and zones.

Prohibits the Secretary from implementing the pilot program until: (1) the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Transportation (DOT) submits to Congress and the Secretary a report verifying that DOT is in compliance with provisions of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 requiring compliance by motor carriers domiciled in Mexico with certain federal motor carrier safety and inspection laws and regulations and that DOT has established sufficient mechanisms to ensure compliance with such laws and regulations by Mexico-domiciled motor carriers who will operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border; (2) the Secretary takes necessary action to address any issues raised by the IG's report and submits to Congress a report on such actions; (3) there is a program in effect for U.S.-domiciled motor carriers to operate in Mexico beyond commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border; and (4) the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register, and provides opportunity for public comment on, certain aspects of the pilot program.

(Sec. 4) Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish an independent review panel to monitor and evaluate the pilot program; and (2) address any determination by the panel that the pilot program has had an adverse effect on motor carrier safety or terminate such program.

(Sec. 5) Requires the IG: (1) to monitor and review the pilot program; and (2) not later than 12 months, and not later than 18 months, after the initiation of the pilot program submit to Congress and the Secretary interim reports that include IG findings and certain safety determinations concerning such program.

Requires the Secretary, not later than 60 days after submission of the IG's 18-month interim report, to report to Congress on: (1) any actions the Secretary is taking to address motor carrier safety issues raised in the IG's interim reports; (2) the Secretary's evaluation of whether granting authority to additional motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border would have any adverse effects on motor carrier safety; (3) modifications to federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations or special procedures necessary to enhance the safety of operations of motor carriers domiciled in Mexico in the United States; and (4) any recommendations for legislation to make the pilot program permanent or to expand operations of motor carriers domiciled in Mexico in the United States beyond municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border.

(Sec. 6) Authorizes the pilot program for three years, except that if the Secretary does not comply with the requirements of this Act, such program terminates. Requires the Secretary, not later than 60 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit to Congress a final report on such program.

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Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z ... m&H.R.1756
Title: To prohibit Mexico-domiciled motor carriers from operating beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border until certain conditions are met to ensure the safety of such operations.
Sponsor: Rep Hunter, Duncan [CA-52] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (44)
Related Bills: H.R.1773
Latest Major Action: 4/20/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.


SUMMARY AS OF:

3/29/2007--Introduced.

NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007 - Prohibits a Mexico-domiciled motor carrier from being granted authority to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border until one or more of the following officials as specified (the Secretaries of Transportation and of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation Inspector General) certify to Congress that they have met conditions pertaining to: (1) the identification of federal motor carrier safety regulations and acceptance of compliance with Mexican safety regulations; (2) safety enforcement tools; (3) effective and regular monitoring and enforcement of immigration and customs regulations regarding international traffic under the North American Free Trade Agreement; (4) penalties for violation of immigration and customs laws or regulations concerning transportation by Mexico-domiciled carriers; (5) driver records databases used in Mexico; (6) compliance with conditions listed in the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 concerning cross-border trucking safety; and (7) English language proficiency requirements applicable to drivers.