Video is available on the site and is worth watching!


Mexican Truckers Could Be On U.S. Roads This Week
KFSN By Maureen Naylor

09/01/2007 - Friday, a last minute legal fight to stop the test program failed. But in the valley some truckers and owners have their own concerns.

As soon as this Thursday, 100 Mexican trucking companies could be allowed to haul cargo anywhere in the U.S. That's Instead of the current 20 mile buffer zone at certain border crossings.

The year-long pilot program got the final go-ahead Friday after a judge denied the Sierra Club and the Teamsters Union effort to stop the program, citing safety concerns. Jim Santangelo, Teamsters Union, says "You will be able to see smoke, you will be seeing smoking equipment. It's bad. You are going to hear trucks barely making it up the road."

The Department of Transportation says all trucks are subject to the rigorous safety laws of the trucking industry. But one Fresno trucker still worries foreign truckers will have inadequate training, outdated equipment, and language barriers.

Fresno trucking company owner Jim Ganduglia thinks the program will have the biggest impact in Los Angeles, but worries the new competition will put his and other U.S. trucking companies at an unfair business disadvantage.

"We're paying in the state of California somewhere between $20 and $30 a hundred for worker's comp, if they're not paying anything for workers comp, we're at a disadvantage already. We're going to end up on the bottom end of the totem pole," says Ganduglia.

Opponents cite other concerns ranging from drug testing, air quality and homeland security. Congress ordered the temporary program this year to see if it can be done safely and further the North American free trade agreement.

Some hurdles still remain before Mexican trucks are given the go-ahead. The Department of Transportation must complete an audit, and congress requested U.S. trucks get approval for equal access to Mexico.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?secti ... id=5626484