The Whitehouse is set to release the final details very soon about a new cross-border trucking program with Mexico. This action is a complete turn about for both Senator Obama and President Obama of 2009. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...) This program would replace one that Congress voted to stop in 2009 because of multiple concerns. In fact, only one member of the House of Representatives voted against stopping the program. Currently, all Mexican trucks only bring goods to the border, and then American or Canadian carriers pick up the loads and proceed. From all details that are now available, there is no indication that any legitimate changes have been made to the program that would allow it to be in the best interest of all countries and specifically in the best interest of the people of all countries. Here is why...
No one will argue that there would be one benefit to long haul Mexican carriers bringing goods directly into the USA. That benefit is the mega-trucking companies in the USA would have access to drivers that get paid approximately half that of American drivers. The problem with this is two-fold. Those savings will not get passed on to anyone other than the executives and shareholders of those few companies. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of small business owner operators and small trucking companies that are vital parts of their communities will have to compete with those carriers that exploit the cheap labor. That cheap labor would be possible due to the regulatory environment in Mexico. What regulatory environment in Mexico? That’s my point! Mexico is well known for a rich cultural heritage, strong family values, and more but not for well-enforced rules and regulations. The problem is that on paper the Whitehouse can say that agreements have been made, rules have been changed, but what will happen in reality is very different.
I do not consider it to be in the country's best interest for a handful of people to make millions more in profits while the country's small business owners pay the price of wildly unfair competition. We should be working to lift the standards of Mexico to that of the USA and Canada, not the opposite. The problem is that the regulatory environment is not something on which trade agreements are based.
This program isn’t free. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, expressed his opposition to a proposal in the White House’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget, which calls for the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) to use $4.3 million in operating expenses for the pilot program, which would come out of the Highway Trust Fund.
There are disparaging differences in hours of service, truck safety, insurance regulations, and the environmental impact of high-sulfur fuel used in Mexico and burned in the US when the trucks cross the border, all of which can be prevented by saying no to the cross-border program until Mexico can show that their standards meet those of Canada and the US. When Mexico does that, there’s no reason to block their drivers and trucking companies from operating in the US.
Please contact your member of the US House of Representatives and ask him or her to sign on to the Duncan Hunter letter in opposition to the Mexican cross border trucking program (Duncan Hunter is a representative from California). Contact your senators, too, and urge action in the senate as well.