Thread: Mexican trucks

Originally Posted by airdale

Welcome to ALIPAC roofer. Your avatar is very cool.

You too airdale, and that's not an avatar it's my highschool yearbook picture!

"Happy! Halloween! Everyone!"

pattyk is going as a "Nice Person!"

steve wrote

that's not an avatar it's my highschool yearbook picture!

Damn I about jumped out of my seat when I saw your avator roofer. He scares the living hell out of me. Make...him...stop...looking..at...me.

1st Mexican truck allowed on U.S. roads under NAFTA

Christopher Sherman, Associated Press

Saturday, October 22, 2011



For the first time under the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Mexican tractor-trailer crossed into the United States on Friday on a trip to the country's interior, beginning a trucking program that has been stalled for years by concerns that it would put highway safety and American jobs at risk.

The truck hauling a large steel drilling structure on a flatbed trailer crossed the border at Laredo, Texas, nearly two decades after passage of NAFTA, which was supposed to improve cargo transportation between the two countries.

At a ceremony in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, before the truck set off for a Dallas suburb, the owner of the Transportes Olympic trucking company told dignitaries of both countries that he considers his fleet's access to the U.S. interior like being invited to a friend's house.

"We have to be extra orderly and very respectful," Fernando Paez told about 300 people. "We will demonstrate that we can operate safely and efficiently."

The driver of the Freightliner truck was Josue Cruz, who waved from the cab, flashed a thumbs-up and thundered toward the bridge over the Rio Grande. The truck was expected to unload in Garland today.

Paez's company was first approved to operate in the U.S. interior under a 2007 pilot program that allowed a limited number of trucks before President Obama's administration canceled it in 2009. Mexico retaliated by placing tariffs on a wide range of American goods.

Hours before Friday's ceremony, Mexico announced it was suspending the tariffs. But the Mexican government warned that they could be reinstated if the accord is not respected by the United States.

NAFTA, signed in 1994, had called for Mexican trucks to have unrestricted access to highways in border states by 1995 and full access to all U.S. highways by January 2000. Canadian trucks have no limits on where they can go.

But until now, Mexican trucks have seldom been allowed farther than a buffer zone on the U.S. side of the border, where their cargo was typically transferred to American vehicles.

The public debate surrounding the accord had mostly focused on the safety of Mexican trucks. But labor unions and other groups were strongly opposed to the agreement, saying it would cost Americans trucking and other jobs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the safety concerns have been resolved. Electronic monitoring systems will track how many hours the trucks are in service. Drivers will also have to pass safety reviews, drug tests and assessments of their English skills. Mexico has the authority to demand similar measures from American drivers.

The impact of the program will be limited at first. Only 10 other Mexican trucking companies are currently going through the certification process.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z1bY6QfgsN

1 Million Safety Violations Won’t Keep Mexican Trucks Out Of U.S.

1 Million Safety Violations Won’t Keep Mexican Trucks Out Of U.S. – Judicial Watch

Weeks before the Obama Administration starts letting Mexican cargo trucks travel deep into the U.S., the Texas Department of Public Safety reveals that, in the last few years, trucks coming from Mexico had more than 1 million safety violations



Weeks before the Obama Administration starts letting Mexican cargo trucks travel deep into the U.S., the Texas Department of Public Safety reveals that, in the last few years, trucks coming from Mexico had more than 1 million safety violations.

This is hardly earth-shattering news since Mexican trucks have long failed to meet U.S. safety standards. That’s why they aren’t allowed to travel freely throughout the country, but rather in restricted zones within 25 miles of the southern border. Even within their limited boundary, they have created a huge risk to Americans’ safety, according to the Transportation Department Inspector General.

Regardless, the Obama Administration carved out a deal to allow Mexican trucks to travel freely on U.S. highways as part of a 17-year-old international trade pact known as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a few weeks Mexican trucks will be allowed to travel into the interior of the United States, even though it could endanger American lives.

In Texas alone, 1.2 million Mexican trucks had safety violations between 2007 and 2011, according to an El Paso newspaper report that quotes official statistics from state public safety officials. Among the safety violations in trucks coming from Mexico were bad brakes, flat tires, axle problems and defective lights. During that period inspectors placed more than 30,000 trucks and 625 drivers out of service.

Federal transportation officials claim that, under the new cross-border trucking program, all Mexican vehicles will be thoroughly inspected and all must comply with rigid U.S. safety standards. The Mexican trucks, notorious for their dismal, third-world country safety standards, must also be equipped with electronic monitoring systems to keep track of drivers’ service hours.

Don’t be surprised if U.S. taxpayers get stuck with the tab. After all, earlier this year the Obama Administration paid to upgrade outdated Mexican trucks that hemorrhage illegal amounts of exhaust when they deliver merchandise near the border. Generous Uncle Sam stepped in for the sake of improving air quality on both sides of the border by replacing old mufflers on dozens of Mexican trucks at a cost of $1,600 each. U.S. truck drivers are required to have the type of converters that Mexicans are getting from the government but they must pay for theirs.

9th circuit court says "Let em roll through here!"

The U. S. has a 20% unemployment rate if you count everybody but they can't find any citizens to drive these trucks? And even the Teamsters think it's a good idea? That goes way beyond dumb down. It's more like the nut house.

I drove for years and I would rather drive in Iraq than Mexico. At least we have armed escorts. Unarmed and alone driving through hostile territory ,, No thanks.

Originally Posted by stevetheroofer

9th circuit court says "Let em roll through here!"