Trucks crossing border

[ronc0011]

I know this super highway thing has been in the works for some time and somehow I had assumed that there would be some sort of inspection going on so that we knew what was in those trucks. But today my Dad told me that he had just heard on the radio that the Trilateral Commission has issued a directive or some such that border states can not stop and inspect the contents of trucks coming from the border.

Everything I can find on the internet regarding inspection of these trucks seem to be concerned with the safety of the trucks themselves. Well once I really started to think about this idea the warning bells started to go off inside my head. It seems to me that if foreign governments have the ability to transport virtually anything into our country then they could transport and establish an army complete with all the hardware and munitions they needed. Put everything in place just waiting for the day it was time to move.

Now maybe I’m just paranoid (probably am), maybe I just don’t know enough of the details, maybe, maybe, maybe any number of things. But I gotta tell ya when your talking a hundred trucks a day or more you can build up a very large and significant force in a pretty short time. This taken along with all the other stuff going on around the world with people like Hugo Chavez and Iran and who knows what and who else.


I just don’t like the smell of it. Let’s face it, at the end of the day, all the talking and posturing and debating aside. America is the fattest and juiciest and most desirable apple on the tree. Why would anyone not want it if they thought they could take it?

 

[Manedwolf]

I'm personally more worried about just a simple U-235 collision device coming in in a truck, or more likely, just tons more Mexican black tar heroin.

 

[ronc0011]

Well I guess what I’m more interested in is more information on this notion that states aren’t allowed to inspect the contents of these trucks.

I know people’s attention seems to be focused on the illegals and the drug trade but in comparison to these other possibilities those seem minor. On the other hand if you took the time to look for the drugs and the illegals the other possibilities would go away.

 

[Manedwolf]

I somehow doubt that the Mexican trucks will be burning the low-sulfur diesel that the gummint forced the American truckers to use, at great expense to said truckers.

 

[TheBluesMan]

But today my Dad told me that he had just heard on the radio that the Trilateral Commission has issued a directive or some such that border states can not stop and inspect the contents of trucks coming from the border.

I'd sure like to have a more reliable source than hearsay about some commission that has no way to enforce any kind of directive.

Got source?

 

[ronc0011]

I'd sure like to have a more reliable source than hearsay about some commission that has no way to enforce any kind of directive.

Got source?

No I don’t, that’s why I posted it here after doing a search on the internet and not finding anything. I mean if my Dad says he heard it then I’m sure he did but he doesn’t have a perfect memory and anyway I would still like more details. I was hoping someone here might have heard something about it. I suppose if there is anything to it I’ll hear something about it sooner or later.

 

[gc70]

USAToday report:

Mexican trucks poised to ride into U.S.
By Sean Holstege, The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX — Mexican freight trucks could begin plying highways throughout the United States as early as Thursday, when the U.S. Department of Transportation is set to issue operating permits to Mexican firms.

But the nation's highways are not likely to be overrun by Mexican trucks.

An Arizona Republic analysis of federal data shows that only 31 Mexican firms have been screened to operate in the U.S. interior. That means no more than 134 drivers and 151 trucks could go beyond the 25-mile commercial zone along the border.

The plan to allow Mexican truckers to drive into the U.S. interior faces legal challenges. Mexican trucks have not been allowed deep into the country since 1982.

Critics say the one-year experiment to test the free-trade measure will unleash a flood of dangerous trucks. It would, they say, increase illegal immigration and drug smuggling and threaten to expose the country to terrorists.

In court filings, the government says only two firms could operate on the first day, one in Tijuana and one in a Monterrey suburb.

The cross-border trucking plan has prompted a war of words and legal papers between the Bush administration and Jim Hoffa, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Hoffa and his allies at the Sierra Club and Public Citizen have sued in federal court to stop the government from issuing permits to Mexican freight haulers. Their lawyers argued in court that Mexican trucks pose a danger on the roads and threaten increased human and drug smuggling.

"Dangerous trucks should not be driving all the way from Mexico to Maine and Minnesota," said Hoffa in a prepared statement. "What is it about safety and national security that George Bush doesn't understand?"

The government argued that stopping the trucks would unsettle a key trading partner in Mexico and delay U.S. trucks from operating south of the border. Officials insist that a lengthy pre-inspection of Mexican firms has resulted in strict safety standards and compliance with congressional mandates.

"We chose to do this incrementally and cautiously," said John Hill, who runs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates truck safety and is responsible for the trucking plan. "These carriers are going to be safe."

He has 254 inspectors along the border. Only 16 of the 188 firms inspected have failed. Just more than 100 withdrew, signaling the inspections are rigorous, Hill said.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday denied an emergency injunction to halt the program. The union will continue its lawsuit.

Nothing can happen until the inspector general of the Department of Transportation blesses the one-year experiment and until the Mexican government issues permits to U.S. trucking companies.

That all could happen as early as Thursday.

A preliminary inspector general report gave the program a mixed review on Aug. 6.

The heated rhetoric has melted into obscurity the fact that very few firms on either side of the border are interested. To date, 31 Mexican firms — with a maximum of 151 trucks — are poised for U.S. permits, and two-thirds of the firms are in Baja California. Two Mexican border states have no firms cleared to operate in the U.S. interior, including Sonora, across the border from Arizona.

In the United States, only 14 firms are awaiting permits from the Mexican government, Hill said.

Teamsters accuse the government of cherry-picking Mexican firms to skew the results of the imminent experiment.

"You can't take the 151 safest trucks in Mexico and let them drive all over the United States for a year and then say your entire program is safe," Teamsters spokeswoman Leslie Miller said.

Hill says follow-up reviews by the inspector general, plus one independent technical panel that includes former Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe, will assure the results' validity.

Opening the border to trucks was a key part of the North American Free Trade Agreement inked in 1994. The trucks were supposed to be delivering international cargo seven years ago. Under the trade pact, certified Mexican trucks can carry loads anywhere in the United States but can pick up loads only if they are bound for Mexico. The converse applies to U.S. trucks.

That was the arrangement before 1982. Since then, Mexican trucks have operated within a 25-mile commercial zone along the border. There, they transfer loads to U.S. trucks. Last year, 4.5 million trucks crossed north over the border, mostly through Texas.

 

[paratrooper]

They want to check me and all I haul is produce most of the time . If they don't get checked then perhaps the ACLU will make them stop checking ALL trucks .

 

[Trapper L]

Well, it may have a hiccup in the Transcorridor Hiway. Two Texas Senators have stated that they are opposed to the taking of State and Federal hiways and giving it to a foreign nation to charge a toll on and have control over. The people of this State and the US have already paid for the privledge to use these roads and those rights will not be infringed. This was on San Antonio TV KSAT 12 at ten PM. I didn't catch the names of the Senators but you can count on it C. Rodriquez was one of them. He's a great guy and about as straight up front as a man gets.

I guess I should have search the web first. Here's his statements in regards to the hiways:
http://walkerreport.blogspot.com/2007/09/rodriguez-calls-for-congressional.html

FWIW, TxDot= Texas Department of Transportation. They control roadways, hiways, and truck traffic in Texas.

 

[madmag]

Lots of problems with letting Mexican trucks on our interior roads. Just one is the fact that police will not be able to use the NCIC computer system to tell who they have stopped..as they normally do. Our police will have to depend on the papers presented to them by the truckers. And even if the papers are in order they will not know if they are dealing with a person with a criminal background in Mexico. Well, the Mexican government is saying all the drivers will have clean backgrounds. I am sure we all trust the Mexican government to vouch for its drivers.

 

[Jets2007]

What a disaster. As part of the requirement for me to travel from state to state on my CDL, I need to have medical forms with me (I think it's called DOT CFR 49 or something). I also need to have all sorts of endorsements on my license issued by my state. The CDL is easy to get if you put in some effort. However, letting the mexican drivers come across the border unregulated is going to create lots of problems. The DOT holds our trucks to certain standards. The Mexican trucks are going to be a major hazard. What the hell is the government thinking?

 

[gc70]

What the hell is the government thinking?

Free trade is good. (And Mexican trucks and drivers are cheaper...)

 

[Manedwolf]

The problem with the race to the bottom is that eventually, you'll hit it.

And it'll hurt.

 

[Waitone]

I've followed this one for a while. The problem is much worse than the popular press will let on. Mainstream media won't touch the issue up until now. Elite alternative media won't talk against it because of its marriage to the concept of "free trade". Bottom line is NAFTA mandates free flow of trucks across borders. Various groups in the US have delayed the opening of the southern border for 5 or more years. The issue was finally resolved by a tribunal in Mexico serving at the behest of NAFTA's home office. The tribunal said "do it" and Bush said "Yes sir".

The demonstration project is to allow 100 Mexican companiesfree access to the US. What isn't clear is if it requires round trips from Mexico or if they will be allow intrastate hauling. Again, the adminstration is tongue tied. The program will be rolled out with approval of 25 companies in each of the first 4 months. Some media outlets just discovering the flap have said the program is 100 trucks. Not so.

Economics of the situation is profound. Average margin of US truckers is estimated to be $0.35 / mile. Based on several estimates the Mexicans will be able to get happy at $0.15 / mile.

Just a few of questions which have not been answered by our authorities:
1--US is opening its borders to Mexican trucks while Canada has refused.
2--No national criminal database in Mexico
3--No drug testing lab in Mexico. Testing is being done in the US yet there doesn't appear to be any requirement for chain of custody documentation.
4--No requirement for Mexican trucks to use low sulfur fuel.
5--No requirement for Mexican truckers to speak, read, and comprehend English as required by US law.
6--CDL and Hazmat endorsements? Naah!
7--No known provisions for insurance coordination betwixt the two countries.
8--Tort? Again no known coordination should legal action be necessary.
9--Mexican truckers are not required to keep a log

I could go on but I'm getting bored. The point is once again we have the situation developing where US service or product providers are saddled with a plethora of rules and regulations (aka "cost") while having to compete against those have have no such requirements.

Before congress went out on break the house passed legislation which would require Mexican trucks, truckers, and companies to fully comply with all US transportation laws. It passed by a vote of 411 to 3. Bush kept it out of the senate and adopted the strategy of stealth. And once again congress claims to be clueless.

Documentation
--do a google search using <trucks tribunal> or <mexican trucks +tribunal> The overarching authority pushing the US to comply (which just happens to coincide with Bush's policy) has received scant attention. That may well be about to end because it points out in exquisite detail the limitations on US sovereignty place by agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA, etc.
--Jerome Corsi is leading the documentation charge on the issue. His archives can be found at Worldnetdaily. The article list is extensive. He also writes for Human Events online where extensive archives exist.
--Secondary alternative media has been all over the flap. Many are posting MP3 files on key shows.
--Now that the trucks are rolling you can expect a light coat of MSM coverage. Elite alternative media will begin to talk about the wonders of "free trade" while ignoring the problems.

Security Issues
Have been front and center in the second line alternative media. Seems Customs is under instructions to change inspection procedures based on the length of time the truck has waited for inspection. The longer the wait the more the inspection resembles an arm wave.

Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association is a good place to go for overall information. www.ooida.com

Bush has successfully kept his most recent policy initiative well below the radar. He was soundly rebuked over Harriett Meiers SCOTUS nomination, Dubai Ports Fiasco, Amnesty I and Amnesty II. When he saw the results of the house legislation he decided to keep it out of congress. Looks like he's been quite successful. Documentation is plentiful and available. You just gotta look for it.

 

[madmag]

One of the main things to understand is that Mexico thinks this is a great idea, so who do you think this is really going to benefit?...enough said.

 

[LAK Supply]

The problem with the race to the bottom is that eventually, you'll hit it.

And it'll hurt.

Looks like you and I agree on something here Manedwolf!

This whole idea is bad for the US..... this seems to be the running trend with our "government" lately; the few jobs they're supposed to do they aren't and the stuff they're not supposed to touch is what gets the most attention.

Mexico is a country that consistently a bad ranking on the CPI.... they're right up there with Peru, Saudi Arabia, and China with a whopping 3.3 score. The politicians/wealthy run the people into the ground through a series of laws and behind-the-scenes transactions that ensure the government-business complex never looses a dollar regardless of the social and economic costs to the general population. Add to this that the cartel controls most of the country and you have an overall winner. It would appear that we have enough problems of our own without inheriting any more of theirs.

Or, there could be a larger objective that we're not supposed to know about.

[tinfoil hat on] I hope everybody has their Amero ready....[tinfoil hat off]

 

[madmag]

Of all the problems listed above, the one that stands out to me is:

2--No national criminal database in Mexico

Just think of the frustration of our police when they stop a Mexican trucker. Until now, police have always been able to instantly run drivers through the NCIC crime data base. Now a police officer will have only the truckers papers to tell him who he is dealing with, and we are to trust Mexico that these drivers have clean backgrounds.

Another issue. Even Mexico admits that these drivers have low wages. I worked in Mexico many years and know first hand what low wages does to the Mexican police force. Most Mexican police must find other (illegal) means to have enough money to live on. Same will happen with low paid Mexican truck drivers. They will find other Illegal means in this country to increase their wages.

 

[Wildalaska]

Canadian trucks can cross the border cant they?

Wildandthedifferenceis?Alaska TM

 

[Waitone]

Canada's trucking regs are on par with the US. Mexico's are not. We are evidently adapting Mexico's standards for mexican trucks in the US without derating US standards for US trucks.

 

[madmag]

Canadian trucks can cross the border cant they?

Yeah, I forgot about those low paid pesky Canadians. I also worked there. Not much different than Mexico...just offer a Canadian Police offer a bribe when he pulls you over for a violation.

BTW, Canada has a national crime data base that actually works.