Mexico cross-border program fully compliant, DOT tells Congress

Maria

Diet Coke
Staff member
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration say they have carried out all the statutory requirements before initiation of the Mexico cross-border pilot program.

The statement came in “The Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program Report to Congress” filed earlier this month.

The report details the actions that the FMCSA said it is taking or has taken to address the issues raised by the DOT’s Office of Inspector General in its report to Congress concerning the pilot program.

In the report, the OIG said it found that the FMCSA had not identified the specific process it would use to comply with five requirements for conducting 50 percent of the pre-authority safety audits (PASA) and compliance reviews onsite in Mexico and that the FMCSA had not yet addressed certain issues for implementing the pilot program. Specifically, the OIG said the FMCSA had not (1) issued site–specific plans for checking drivers and trucks at the border, (2) established a system to verify driver and truck eligibility for the pilot program, (3) issued an implementation plan nor acquired electronic monitoring devices for use in the pilot program and (4) conducted pilot program training for inspection personnel at the border and within the United States.

The report to Congress said the FMCSA had taken all the steps necessary to comply with the Inspector General’s findings.

“The pilot program is an important step toward fulfilling the United States’ obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement, removing tariffs on U.S. goods, and maintaining the relationship with one of the nation’s largest trading partners,” the DOT said in the report to Congress.

source
 
U.S. Reps. Duncan Hunter and Bob Filner joined Teamsters President James Hoffa at the border Wednesday to take a bipartisan stand against the pilot project that will allow approved Mexican trucks to come deep into the United States. The first one will enter Texas on Friday.

Wait a minute.

I saw a truck in Oklahoma City a couple years ago with Mexican plates.

And I also saw one Southbound on Interstate 5 just South of Bellingham, WA a few months before that.

So how the Hell can the "first" truck from Mexico enter Texas Friday?
 
Wait a minute.

I saw a truck in Oklahoma City a couple years ago with Mexican plates.

And I also saw one Southbound on Interstate 5 just South of Bellingham, WA a few months before that.

So how the Hell can the "first" truck from Mexico enter Texas Friday?

I saw one at the Flying J in Tacoma more than 2 years ago. And the truck was an old run-down piece of junk.
 
And the truck was an old run-down piece of junk.

That's how they can run so cheaply. They buy the clapped out slag heaps that the mega-carriers send out to pasture. They get snatched up by the thousands by the carriers South of the Border. I see them going down in "stacks" all the time.

There is a place in Iowa just South of Council Bluffs where there are literally thousands of red and blue tractors in a field, off of I-29. And when traveling South on I-29 you can see them heading to Mexico.

Think about the economics of it. They get the trucks for a few thousand bucks each, take them down there and squeeze another few hundred thousand miles out of them and put very little into them.
 
Lots of crappy trucks out there that fit that description, with United States plates on them.
 
Lots of crappy trucks out there that fit that description, with United States plates on them.

You are absolutely right Mike. I see a lot of them that come out of the Chicago area. Volvo and Freightliner mostly, and the drivers wear those exercise outfits, the ones with the stripes up the sides of the legs. And they speak a language that sounds like they are from Eastern Europe. Mostly pulling reefers and dry vans.

And they don't seem to have a clue about the rules of the road.

Or how to properly maintain a truck.
 
You are absolutely right Mike. I see a lot of them that come out of the Chicago area. Volvo and Freightliner mostly, and the drivers wear those exercise outfits, the ones with the stripes up the sides of the legs. And they speak a language that sounds like they are from Eastern Europe. Mostly pulling reefers and dry vans.

And they don't seem to have a clue about the rules of the road.

Or how to properly maintain a truck.

Just yesterday I was heading up I-55 on my way to Bolingbrook and I was pointing out to Mrs. Duck that every single truck we passed that was pulling any sort of intermodal container trailer was an old run-down piece of ****. Every one I pointed out had mailbox letters on the doors, and about half of them had rubber bungee cords holding their body panels on.

Those guys with the vinyl pants with racing stripes on them are from Russia or Poland. In the Chicago area, they're mostly from Poland.
 
Send the non english speaking poles and slavs from Chicago into Mexico.

Now that would be a hoot...
 
Those guys with the vinyl pants with racing stripes on them are from Russia or Poland. In the Chicago area, they're mostly from Poland.

Bosnia and Serbia as well. we have a bunch of them at our company now. In fact they are probably 30% of the fleet or more.
 
Wait a minute.

I saw a truck in Oklahoma City a couple years ago with Mexican plates.

And I also saw one Southbound on Interstate 5 just South of Bellingham, WA a few months before that.

So how the Hell can the "first" truck from Mexico enter Texas Friday?


They actually figured out a few years ago that they can get dual registration in Texas (or some other place). They even have USDOT numbers on them.
 
They actually figured out a few years ago that they can get dual registration in Texas (or some other place). They even have USDOT numbers on them.

Then they would have to also have a Texas plate too, right? The trucks I have seen only have Mexican plates.
 
Then they would have to also have a Texas plate too, right? The trucks I have seen only have Mexican plates.

Yes, they do have texas plates. I even recall seeing a conneticut plate. Unless you just didn't see it, I don't know what else to say. I too have seen mex plated trucks before the pilot program started.
 
DAMN IT!!!

I have to admit that brick is right about something now. ....

the one I saw in Tacoma a couple years ago had some town in Mexico on the door but it had a USDOT number on it. So what I saw was one of those dual registered trucks.
 

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