09-07-2007, 12:07 AM
By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer
Dozens of truckers rallied at Mexican border crossings in California and Texas Thursday to protest a pilot program to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to haul their cargo anywhere in the United States.
Carrying signs reading "NAFTA Kills" and "Unsafe Mexican Trucks," a few dozen protesters circled in the heat for two hours at Laredo's port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"What do we want? Safe highways. When do we want them? Now!" they chanted.
The U.S. Transportation Department said no Mexican trucks had arrived under the program as of late Thursday afternoon. But 38 Mexican firms were poised for U.S. permits, said Melissa Mazzella DeLaney, a spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates truck safety.
The Teamsters union, Sierra Club and watchdog group Public Citizen sued to stop the program, arguing there won't be enough oversight of drivers, but a federal appeals court ruled the Bush administration could move ahead.
Government lawyers said the program is a necessary part of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the trucks would meet U.S. regulations.
Near San Diego's Otay Mesa border crossing, dozens of truckers led by the Teamsters mixed with anti-illegal-immigration activists. Business was uninterrupted, said Lt. Hector Paredes of the California Highway Patrol, which inspects about 3,000 trucks a day at the crossing.
"We're already inspecting Mexican trucks and will continue to inspect them the same way," Paredes said. "These trucks already haul product from Tijuana to San Diego. Now they will be able to go beyond San Diego."
Critics such as Teamsters organizer Hugo Flores doubt that Mexican drivers will be held to the same rules, such as the length of work shifts and drug testing.
"There are no means to regulate these guys. Bush has opened up highways to unsafe trucks," Flores said at the Laredo protest. "I don't want them sharing the roads with my family."
NAFTA requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico and Canada be opened to carriers from all three countries. Canadian trucking companies already have full access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks can travel only about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings.
The one-year pilot program is designed to study whether opening the U.S.-Mexico border to all trucks could be done safely.
The government says it has imposed rigorous safety protocols in the program, including drug and alcohol testing for drivers done by U.S. companies. Additionally, law enforcement officials have stepped up nationwide enforcement of a law requiring interstate truck and bus drivers to have a basic understanding of written and spoken English.
Besides the safety issues, Flores said there are also concerns about job security and pollution from emissions.
"Now they're trying to export all our driving jobs to Mexico," Flores said. "That's one less American job."
At a Petro truck stop near El Paso along Interstate 10, reactions to the program were mixed.
Carlos Moreno, who has been a truck driver for nearly four decades, said he doesn't begrudge anyone trying to make a living.
"There's enough for all of us," said Moreno, an El Paso resident.
But he is concerned that some of the drivers from Mexico can't read highway signs written in English. "You can always tell in construction zones," he said.
Omar Nunez, a 34-year-old driver from Pecos, said he worries that freight prices will drop as shippers turn to Mexican trucking companies that may offer cheaper services.
"As it is, I'm barely making it right now," he said.
Among those most concerned were a group of drivers gathered at the Flying J truck stop in Edinburg, Texas. Much of their business has come from picking up loads that Mexican drivers previously had to leave at the border.
"That's my business," said Gerald Fernow, 36, from Flatonia, Texas. "What am I supposed to do? I'm screwed."
___
Associated Press writers Alicia A. Caldwell in El Paso, Lynn Brezosky in Edinburg and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_o...eDW7ADW7oF
Dozens of truckers rallied at Mexican border crossings in California and Texas Thursday to protest a pilot program to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to haul their cargo anywhere in the United States.
Carrying signs reading "NAFTA Kills" and "Unsafe Mexican Trucks," a few dozen protesters circled in the heat for two hours at Laredo's port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"What do we want? Safe highways. When do we want them? Now!" they chanted.
The U.S. Transportation Department said no Mexican trucks had arrived under the program as of late Thursday afternoon. But 38 Mexican firms were poised for U.S. permits, said Melissa Mazzella DeLaney, a spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates truck safety.
The Teamsters union, Sierra Club and watchdog group Public Citizen sued to stop the program, arguing there won't be enough oversight of drivers, but a federal appeals court ruled the Bush administration could move ahead.
Government lawyers said the program is a necessary part of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the trucks would meet U.S. regulations.
Near San Diego's Otay Mesa border crossing, dozens of truckers led by the Teamsters mixed with anti-illegal-immigration activists. Business was uninterrupted, said Lt. Hector Paredes of the California Highway Patrol, which inspects about 3,000 trucks a day at the crossing.
"We're already inspecting Mexican trucks and will continue to inspect them the same way," Paredes said. "These trucks already haul product from Tijuana to San Diego. Now they will be able to go beyond San Diego."
Critics such as Teamsters organizer Hugo Flores doubt that Mexican drivers will be held to the same rules, such as the length of work shifts and drug testing.
"There are no means to regulate these guys. Bush has opened up highways to unsafe trucks," Flores said at the Laredo protest. "I don't want them sharing the roads with my family."
NAFTA requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico and Canada be opened to carriers from all three countries. Canadian trucking companies already have full access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks can travel only about 20 miles inside the country at certain border crossings.
The one-year pilot program is designed to study whether opening the U.S.-Mexico border to all trucks could be done safely.
The government says it has imposed rigorous safety protocols in the program, including drug and alcohol testing for drivers done by U.S. companies. Additionally, law enforcement officials have stepped up nationwide enforcement of a law requiring interstate truck and bus drivers to have a basic understanding of written and spoken English.
Besides the safety issues, Flores said there are also concerns about job security and pollution from emissions.
"Now they're trying to export all our driving jobs to Mexico," Flores said. "That's one less American job."
At a Petro truck stop near El Paso along Interstate 10, reactions to the program were mixed.
Carlos Moreno, who has been a truck driver for nearly four decades, said he doesn't begrudge anyone trying to make a living.
"There's enough for all of us," said Moreno, an El Paso resident.
But he is concerned that some of the drivers from Mexico can't read highway signs written in English. "You can always tell in construction zones," he said.
Omar Nunez, a 34-year-old driver from Pecos, said he worries that freight prices will drop as shippers turn to Mexican trucking companies that may offer cheaper services.
"As it is, I'm barely making it right now," he said.
Among those most concerned were a group of drivers gathered at the Flying J truck stop in Edinburg, Texas. Much of their business has come from picking up loads that Mexican drivers previously had to leave at the border.
"That's my business," said Gerald Fernow, 36, from Flatonia, Texas. "What am I supposed to do? I'm screwed."
___
Associated Press writers Alicia A. Caldwell in El Paso, Lynn Brezosky in Edinburg and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_o...eDW7ADW7oF