What's Going to Happen?-Mexican Trucks

Actually the point is far from moot. There exists 48 month data in FMCSA's NAFTA databse that can, and probably will be use to arrive at a "statistically valid sample" showing the safety of Mexican trucks. This database contains inspection data for more than 8000 driver and vehicle inspections covering the full spectrum of Mexican operations in the US. Legacy carriers, Mexican carriers with special permission and of course, the commercial zone carriers. And the trend continues to show that the Mexicans, across all areas, have a slightly better safety and compliance record than we do.

I don't know if any of your read the DC Court of Appeals decision in the frivolous and baseless lawsuit OOIDA and Teamsters filed to stop the program. But the opinion further makes moot the point of participation..

As an aside, I believe I would believe the learned jurists of the D.C. Court of Appeals over people like Todd Spencer whose response to this was "I don't know what laws they're looking at, but it not what we believe".......

Flame on bruthas, flame on!

 

There was an interesting article in " The Trucker" on this subject. The article concurs with my previous statements. The FMCSA is to put it bluntly "full of it". The data is totally flawed. There have not been enough carriers participating to get any data that has meaning. 75% of the crossings have been made by one company: GCC Transport. The article does not state who they are but they carry cement. I assume it is CEMEX. For those who do not know this company, they are huge and operate all over the world. Very modern and their trucks are all newer. 407,000 miles and 3504 crossings have been made by Mexican companies. Being as most were by the one company this does not reflect a good rating on the other companies. BTW: Most trucks travelled in border states and the majority were in Texas. Only 12 carriers have been Approved And get this: ONLY 44 DRIVERS ! How do you get real statistics from this data? I talk to some Mexican drivers while in Mexico and they have zero desire to truck in the USA. They are afraid of inspections and many have language problems. I do not know why the Obama Gov. is so set in making this happen. It is a dud! In the meantime the FMCSA should stop every Mexican passenger bus and do a full inspection. They are mostly POS's and the drivers are horrible. When they enter the USA many have been driving for 20 hours or more. The buses are junk! However the big truck fleets that I see are as good as any USA trucks. I also wonder about the EPA requirements. How can a Mexican truck pass an EPA test when they have been using non ULSD fuel. There is almost no ULSD in Mexico. The trucks I see in showrooms do not have a DPF or use SCR.

 

BTW: We should all be very cautious in reading the posts by Mexico Trucker. He is an activist with an agenda and makes a living by giving talks on these subjects. He has been on trucker radio and much of his comments are just outright lies. His statistics are wrong and have no validity. Just another fellow trying to make a living on the talk tours by pushing one side of a story. Do not believe everything you read!

 

http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-still-question-mexican-truck-safety-despite-court-decision

 

You might want to be careful talking crap about people you don't know and know nothing about.

###### straight I'm an activist in something I believe in, which is better than people such as yourself that let radio DJ's that know nothing of the industry spoon feed you the crap pushed on them by their sponsors.

My agenda? Exposing the lies and misinformation surrounding this subject, using facts and documents that show the truth. Although sometimes it appears to be a waste of time when I run up against folks such as yourself Brucesmith who lock the basic cognitive thinking skills to accept that fact trumps your opinion.

You are correct, I have been on trucker radio as an invited guest, without compensation of any kind. I was invited because many in the industry consider me an expert on this subject, regardless of their opinion of Mexican trucks.

I would challenge you to prove......

1. Any lies I have told

2. That the statistics I use to prove my point are wrong and prove they have no validity.....

I make my living like most of the folks on this forum, pushing a truck for the past 38 years and over 3,000,000 accident free miles..... Perhaps when you get to that point in your life, your opinion will have some validity....

 

Again Brucesmith, you make a lot of assumptions with nothing to back them up.....

Any data obtained from the program has meaning. There is also 4 years of accumulative data on Mexican trucks maintained by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) that cover more than 10,000 inpections of trucks from all segments of the Mexican industry who operate in the US. Data is data unless you're one of these who thinks FMCSA has a room full of scribes inventing data to make the Mexicans look good.

You are correct about GCC Transport. They have a number of US subsidiary companies in the US that they haul their own product into and out of cross border.... So what? It's their right.... Most have this crazy idea of Mexican trucks coming here by the tens of thousands running roughshod across our country. That's a BS idea put into your heads by Teamsters, OOIDA, Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen and the loony toons Phyllis Schafley of Eagle Forum. Ain't happened, ain't gonna happen...

That holds true to your claim about the trucks traveling mostly in the border states, Texas and California, where they have business. There is nothing for them chasing freight in the interior of the US. That's not their business model in Mexico, so why should it be so in the US?

You are also correct about Mexican drivers not wanting to run in the US. Most don't want to be away from their families that long. You assertion about language and inspections is pure BS. Mexican Federal Transport Police conduct their share of inspections. Mexico is part of CVSA if you'd bother to look.

Why is the Obama administration making this happen? Because we, as a country, affixed our signature to the agreement that in essence gave our word to our two closest trading partners. We agreed to do it, and we're doing it. Period.

What in the hell do you know about Mexican buses? The ones you see on US highways that run into and out of Mexico that are owned by US based interests? Have you ever seen a real Mexican bus up close? Ridden on one? They make Greyhound coaches look like real pieces of junk.....

You wonder about EPA requirements? Any truck registered in Mexico must comply with EPA standards in effect on the date of manufacture for that unit. Mexico also has it's own EPA ministry that enforces that countries environmental laws and rules although not in the anal manner the US EPA and CARB does.

How do you know what kind of fuel they're using? Have you broken the seal on their fuel tanks to check? ULSD is widely available in Mexico, especially on the border and in the major cities. What PEMEX doesn't refine itself, it pipelines its crude to refineries on the gulf coast and pays us to refine it and send it back to them.

 

The only ULSD available in Mexico is in the Northern part of Baja and within about 100k of the border. Yes I havew ridden the Mexican . busses. In y many thousands of miles travelling Mexico I have only once seen a truck stopped for an inspection. That was within 300k of Mexico city . The highway patrol(Federales do not know squat about the rules. Most states do not e ven have scales! You seem to think I am against the Mexican trucks but you are wrong. I just wonder why you support the Obama ######## on this subject. I travel most of Sonora every moth and spend time in AZ. I have yet to see a Mexican truck farther than about 100k of the bordre. I do not have an agenda . You seem to ant this subject to be discussed . I guess you need the money to be a speaker. Again warn readers to not take this guy as an expert. He does not drive a truck in Mexico.