BUSH ADMINISTRATION OPENS
ALL AMERICAN ROADS TO
MEXICAN TRUCKS
Until September 6, 2007, the law said that Mexican-owned trucks entering the US were required to unload their wares at US CUSTOMS PORT OF ENTRY warehouses within 20 miles of the US/Mexico border. That was as far as the Clinton Administration would allow the Mexican trucks to come into the US, even after the signing of NAFTA. Then after inspection and US CUSTOMS approval, US-owned trucks picked-up the inspected goods and delivered them to their US destinations. (Photo --- Mexican trucks enter the US at Mexico/US border crossing).
Starting today, that’s over ... Officially. The Bush Administration, utilizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, now allow Mexican trucks to cross the US/Mexico border (any of the crossings along the border, from small towns with little in the way of inspectors, to larger cities) and have complete, unfettered access to US highways and cities. No more restrictions of any kind. The Bush Administration interpreting this part of NAFTA in this way is wildly out of line with common sense, national security, and all manner of potential safety and public health problems.
Michael Chertoff, incumbent Secretary of Homeland Security, was in front of a Congressional Committee today, speaking against these changes in the trucking laws. (Photo --- Truck undergoing inspection at a Mexico checkpoint).
According to REUTERS: "The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
late on Friday (9/6/07) denied an emergency petition sought by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and consumer group Public Citizen to halt the start of a one-year pilot program that was approved by Congress after years of legal and political wrangling.The Transportation Department welcomed the decision and said in a statement that allowing more direct shipments from Mexico will benefit U.S. consumers.
The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement approved broader access for ground shipments from both countries but the Clinton administration never complied with the trucking provision. A special tribunal ordered the Bush administration to do so in 2001.
"This is the wrong decision for working men and women," Jim Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, said in a statement after the court ruling. "We believe this program clearly breaks the law." The Teamsters represents truckers that would be affected by the change.
The emergency stay was sought on grounds the administration's pilot program had not satisfied the U.S. Congress' requirements on safety and other issues. But the appeals court ruled otherwise." (end of Reuters story quote)
Now, the "test period" which starts today runs for just one year and the Feds are calling it a “trial” time. But you know how the government is … The first Federal Income Tax was supposed to be “temporary”, too, to be in effect just until after World War I was paid for … Once these things get started, they are near-impossible to stop.
US Congressman Peter DeFazio of Oregon (Democrat), said at a news conference today in washington, DC: "The powers behind this bill won't be satisfied until every truck driver in America is a non-American, working for less than the American minimum wage".
I had our local State Senator, John Benoit, on my radio show as a guest just a few months ago. Before his election, he ran the California Highway Patrol in this area, and he stated flatly that there is no way the trucks coming from Mexico could possibly be inspected unless they were literally falling apart at some checkpoint or border control point.
He has interesting insight into all the potential problems with these rules changes because both California State Highway 86 and Interstate 10, which Benoit oversaw in his CHP position, are major thoroughfares which bring goods from Mexico and Central and South America into the USA.Benoit told us that the only Mexican trucks which will stand any chance at all of actually
being inspected (or of having their loads inspected) are those which are clearly and obviously "falling apart". If their re-capped tires are coming unglued, if their brakes are falling off in chunks from the wheels, if the lights are not working or any other number of safety and quality problems we probably can't even imagine, then, maybe, the truck will be ordered to the side of the road and inspected at some length. But clearly, the CHP is already overtaxed when it comes to all the duties they are supposed to perform in this part of the nation (Southeast California) and adding the inspection of untold numbers of Mexican-owned trucks might precipitate some sort of disaster.
And often, those goods range from cocaine to marijuana to methamphetamine. Recently, a car from Mexico stopped on Highway 86 by law enforcement was found to have six pounds of Fentanyl, a powerful pain-killer used mostly in surgeries and given to cancer patients suffering unrelenting pain from that disease. (Photo --- Man in favor of new NAFTA rules drives truck in Texas --- And where is his seat belt?).
In the meantime, we can only imagine how ‘safe’ all these trucks are as far as their road-going abilities … that famous world-class Mexican quality, second only to (maybe) China … and their operators’ driving skills … and the solid financial strength of their insurance companies … etc.
Update 9-7-07 -- US trucks receive reciprocal rights to Mexican roadways in this deal. CNN reported today that, daily, 2,000 Mexican trucks cross into the US at the San Diego/Otay Mesa border, and 3,000 more cross into the US at the Laredo, TX US/Mexico border, for a total of 5,000 Mexican trucks entering the US every day.
Update -9-12-07 -- Congress on Tuesday moved to block the Bush administration from allowing Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States, setting up a collision with the White House and possibly straining relations with Mexico. Senators from both parties, citing safety concerns, attached a measure to a transportation spending bill to block funding for the cross-border trucking program. The House earlier this year approved a similar measure, virtually ensuring it will be in the final bill. Bush has threatened to veto the bill over its price tag, and the White House issued a statement Tuesday saying it "strongly opposes" any effort to delay the program.
The action comes just days after U.S. transportation officials gave a green light to the first of as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies that would be allowed to operate throughout the United States in a one-year demonstration period. Until now, Mexican trucks have been restricted to a narrow zone north of the U.S.-Mexico border where they transfer their cargo to American big rigs.
On Monday, the first Mexican truck delivered a load of steel to North Carolina.
The action came despite Bush administration assurances that Mexican trucks and their drivers would undergo rigorous safety checks, including a "39-point, front-to-back inspection" of trucks and drug testing for drivers.
The Mexican government has allowed the first of as many as 100 U.S. trucking companies to operate south of the border. The measure drew the support of an unusual coalition, pitting some Republicans against their usual business allies, underscoring the intensity of the opposition.
After NAFTA's approval, the Clinton administration refused to let Mexican freight-haulers operate throughout the United States, citing safety and environmental concerns. A NAFTA arbitration panel ruled in 2001 that the United States was violating the agreement.
In 2004, the Supreme Court set aside a lower court ruling that had required U.S. officials to study the environmental impact before allowing older Mexican trucks into the country, ruling that the president had the power to enforce NAFTA.
Opponents highlighted a fiery collision that occurred Sunday in Mexico between two trucks, one of which carried several tons of highly combustible chemicals, that killed more than two dozen people. But supporters noted that Mexican trucks are prohibited from transporting hazardous materials in the United States.
Six explosions believed to be the result of sabotage ripped apart natural gas pipelines for Mexico's state oil monopoly early Monday, the company said. There were no reported injuries. Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, issued a statement saying it believed the explosions, which forced the evacuation of 12,000 people, were deliberate.
It said the six blasts at about 2 a.m. (3 a.m. EDT, 0700 GMT)
caused four fires. At least five pipelines were affected. A small, left-wing guerrilla group claimed to have attacked a major Pemex gas pipeline in July, forcing at least a dozen major companies, including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co. and The Hershey Co., to suspend or scale back operations.
The July explosions affected sections of a major pipeline extending from central Mexico City to Guadalajara in western Mexico.
We used to like MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING, but not much anymore. Not since the founder of MADD, Candy Lightner (remember that great weepy TV movie about her life?), left the group because of what she called a "prohibitionist movement" developing within MADD which she found "vengeful and wrong-minded". Lightner, who founded MADD in 1980, in fact went on to become a "consultant" for the "adult beverage industry". 
school girls?) thanking people for attending the "wonderful conference", and then some ...Here's how we feel here at CAR NUT HQ --- We think that MADD is attacking the problem much too late, at the wrong end of the timeline. Drunk driving and poor driving can only be stopped through education ... through returning DRIVER'S ED and similar programs to our high schools, and spreading the education and early driving experiences to community groups like the Boy and Girl Scouts, the Boys' Club and Girls' Clubs, etc ... Not by threats, fear and intimidation, the way MADD goes after their goals. Now, even though MADD may make claims of developing driving and safety programs for young people, unfortunately, almost all their money and attention goes into their state and national lobbying efforts to prod politicians into "seeing things the MADD way".
for all that money they take-in and promote every year from the alcohol companies and other industries ... Like, for just one, if alcohol companies can sponsor cars in NASCAR, why can't MADD take some of their cash and get in on that hot action, too? Certainly young people and students make up a very large percentage of those attending NASCAR events and watching the races on TV. MADD might say that's too expensive. OK, then, why can't MADD pony-up some dollars and advertise on SPEED or FUEL, two cable TV networks aimed at the young demographic, or advertise on any of the music video networks seen worldwide? MADD will say they depend on those networks giving them FREE time for MADD-produced Public Service Announcements ... And we all know when PSAs are shown (3am?) and how high-quality and engaging and attractive they usually are (not very at all). MADD should become a regular sponsor on some of these networks (spend some of that money, MADD!) so people become familiar with their themes and message ... That is, if MADD really wants young people to hear them.
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