The Department of Transportation is letting Mexican trucks and drivers run all over the United States. Safety and national security are non-issues if freight will be moved for less.
If some of the big truck load carriers think abandon rigs all over the country are a problem as drivers quit, you have seen nothing yet. Watch out for brake system and other parts falling off Mexican trucks
How long will it be before the Low Wage League and others heavily invested in Congress come up with a scheme to grant access to Mexican equipment and crews to run anywhere on the U. S. rail system?
I don’t know if Mexican train crews will ever be allowed to enter the U.S. However, considering driving habits, and the condition of vehicles throughout Latin America, I think the trucking agreement is sure to add a little zest to our motoring adventure.
However, who would have thought we would have rolling wrecks driven by folks who can not read the exit signs hauling haz mat on our highways. Throw in amnesty for illegal aliens for good measure.
If the pressure builds to drive down the wage rates to cure a lack of compensation induced “shortage”, strange things will happen. Heaven forbid some folks would ever be forced into cutting their own grass and cleaning their own toilets.
Wont happen for the same reasons BNSF trains cannot run freely over UP trackage and visa versa, and I doubt Mexico would let Uncle Pete run freely south of the border either.
In the same manner (and with the same success) that the teamsters union fought the truck issue? I don’t see mexican trains and crews entering the country anytime soon either, but I wouldn’t say it will never happen. Our government is more interested in the welfare of the mexican economy and people it seems than our own, so I wouldn’t put it past them.
With so called free trade nowdays, anything is possible. As a UTU member, I could see something like this, but not for several yrs down the road. What would stop it? Not the union. The layoff policy, health care changes and remote control were all forced upon union labor by a federal court order. Something to think about.
I have seen trucks at the Border doing cartage across between Mexico and USA that are downright museum or junkyard items. The fact that they still run is a testament to poverty and unwillingness to spend a peso or dollar into something that old.
I remember giving my shop manager the third degree because the plastic dashboard switch breaks every week. They are too cheap to install a good strong metal toggle switch that will last years. And I see trucks down there at the border with frightful issues. (By the way, I did buy the metal toggle and install it myself, only to be read the roit act about warranty and see it changed out for a cheap factory plastic toggle MADE IN MEXICO! LOLOL.
Heck, life down there is sooo slow with daily afternoon naps they can afford to drive at 5 mph and take all day to get somewhere 20 miles over the mountain. No way the American company will tolerate that. They start to generate paperwork when thier trucks fall below a set MPH average every afternoon.
Now.
Mexican Carriers have sought to purchase top of line equiptment and run into the USA. I dont have a problem with it. But… these drivers should understand that they are no longer in thier native lands and must be careful in many places in the USA. They are not exactly welcomed. As long they obey the DOT rules, laws etc etc, dress appropriately and treated everyone with respect there is no problem. Canadian Drivers come down here all the time as we do up in Canada.
Oh. Dont worry about the abandoned trucks part. USA Company drivers abandon them regularly and most companies have assigned personel or services to recover them quickly and hopefully undamaged. The drivers that abandon a truck? They are marked on a list and probably will not hire onto another Carrier again for a LONG time.
Abandonments usually is a result of bad communication between angry driver and dispatch and starts off badly and ends worse. Companies do train thier Dispatchers to smooth down the angry driver long enough to get h