Injunction Overturned, Mexican Trucks Could Cross Border Thursday

Frosty Wooldridge Comments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A last-ditch effort to block Mexican trucks from operating within the US has failed, and Mexican trucks could be on US roadways as early as Thursday.

Up to 100 Mexican trucking companies may be operating within the US by Thursday as part of a pilot project in the US. Five groups, including the Teamsters and Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) had filed an injunction to block the program, but it was unsuccessful.

“This is the wrong decision for American working men and women,” Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa said upon learning of the ruling. “We will now proceed to litigate this case on the merits. We believe this program clearly breaks the law. We will continue to fight for safety and national security in the courts and in Congress.” — TruckNews.com

Ensuring the Safety and Security of My Truck and Cargo

By Mark R. Taylor

In my twenty-plus-year career driving trucks across the 48 states, Canada and Iraq, I have seen fuel prices and taxes rise to new heights; I have seen regulations implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that tell me when to sleep and when to drive; I have seen any number of changes that affect the trucking industry, good and bad. However, I have not seen anything that will cause irreparable harm to the American trucking industry like the Mexican Truck Pilot Program.

President Bush and the decision makers at the Department of Transportation (none of whom I believe has ever started the engine of a Freightliner, much less dealt with the daily routine of hauling freight), have opened our borders and highways to the Mexican trucking industry. Not 100 trucks – which might, on the surface, seem manageable from a homeland security standpoint – but 100 Mexican trucking companies operating an unknown number of trucks on our highways.

Who will be driving these trucks? Quite frankly, we do not know. The U.S. Department of Transportation will have you believe they will be driven by hard working Mexican truckers, fluent in English with full working knowledge of our Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration laws regulating the U.S. trucking industry. Yes, just like they would have you believe the millions of illegal aliens who have invaded our country are here just to pick lettuce.

When Jim Johnston and the Owner/Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) joined with Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters union in hard-fought attempts to stop the Mexican Truck Pilot Program, I was not surprised. Whether an independent trucker or a union member, the writing is on the wall with regard to our industry. What has been a small surprise is the fact that few larger trucking companies in the U.S. have not spoken out against the program. However, Celedon, which operates terminals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, has been an outspoken supporter of allowing their Mexican drivers access to the United States. According to Celadon’s website, Celadon is one of a limited number of companies that is able to provide for time-sensitive cargo shipments through trailer door-to-door transport in and between any of the NAFTA countries. From an economic standpoint, Celadon has much to gain. Celadon Groups’ CEO, Steve Russell, states with regard to the current restrictions on Mexican trucks in the U.S., on Purchaser.com, “This makes no sense in an age of globalized trade.”

Why pay an American driver 45 cents per mile to haul freight to the Mexican border when a company can dispatch a load to their Mexican driver in the U.S. for a fraction of what the American driver would make? According to OOIDA president, Jim Johnston, in the August/September issue of Landline Magazine:

Mexican drivers typically earn less than a third of what American drivers earn. Consequently, Mexican trucking companies will be able to deeply undercut U.S. rates and still earn substantially more than they can south of the border.”

Like the illegal alien invasion in the construction industry, the driver pay of the American trucker will decrease further, as we barely earn a living wage now.

In addition to economics, the threat to homeland security is enormous. We are a nation at war with radical Islamist terrorists who can and will use this program, as they have used our legal system, to infiltrate our nation even further than they already have. No longer will they have to join the hordes of illegals swimming the Rio Grande on a daily basis. They can now legally drive themselves into the U.S. in an 18 wheeler, thanks to our wartime president and his partners in the DoT and in Mexico. MS-13 and other gangs now have a welcome mat into our country, as coyotes will certainly take advantage of this golden opportunity to ship their human cargo to Little Rock and points beyond.

The FAST system, which will allow trucks across the border without the theoretically extensive cargo search they now face, does nothing more than create an easy pass for the drugs and human smuggling beyond anything the average American can comprehend. With many U.S. companies, such as Schneider, Swift and Celadon, operating in the United States and Mexico, one question begs for an answer. Do we know just who is paying the enormous fees required for the small Mexican trucking company to operate in the United States? In a country rife with corruption and kickbacks from the drug cartels, the possibility of cartel financing in exchange for transporting drugs is a reality that must not be discounted.

While the average American trucker does not advocate nor will purposefully incite violence, our Mexican peers are ready. MexicoTrucker.com has had, for some time, a page on their site, “(Mexican) Truckers – Report Criminal Acts here”, which states:

“Use this form to report abuse, both verbal and physical, threats to person or property. All comments will be forwarded to the appropriate agencies.”

What do they consider “abuse” and “threats”? I must wonder exactly how they perceive the American trucker and just how far they will go to destroy our way of life. Perhaps as far as Johnny Sutton, the U.S. prosecutor who twisted every word of law to convict our courageous Border Patrol agents, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos? Based upon their previous track records, I have no doubt the ACLU and the radical, racist LaRaza will be standing by, also, ready to trample the rights of the American trucker.

I join millions of my brothers and sisters who operate safely and legally behind the wheel delivering your food, fuel and other consumer goods, in opposing this program. As a veteran of the Iraqi highways, facing IEDs, RPGs and small arms fire nightly to deliver the mail to our troops, I see Interstate 40 turning into the road to Fallujah. As a husband and father, I am concerned about the safety of my wife and son as they travel to their next home school field trip. As an American, I am sickened and saddened that in time of war, our president will surrender our southern border. As a former deputy sheriff, I am disgusted to know that Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos and Texas deputy Gilmer Hernandez remain in prison, while the illegal alien/drug smuggler who put them there, who also holds a legal, valid Mexican CDL (commercial drivers license), remains free. I cannot believe our legal system will stand behind and support any law enforcement officer who attempts to enforce our laws with regard to the Mexican trucks.

As of September 6, 2007, the new target date for this next step in the invasion of America to begin, I am afraid it is the training I obtained driving in Iraq, not the years of safely driving an 18 wheeler in the U.S., which will ensure the safety and security of my truck and my cargo.

WARNING: Mexican Trucks Filled with Illegal Aliens and Drugs Roll Thursday!

ALIPAC Note: A judge has cleared the way for the Bush plan to allow 100 Mexican truck companies to send trucks into America without inspection. Any border fences and the efforts of US Border Patrol will be nullified as the drug and human smuggling crime cartels switch from border crossing to trucking. Please call the US Senate and ask them to pass HR 1773 The Safe American Roads Act of 2007, which has already passed the House. This bill will stop the Bush plan for the trucks!