Have The Fmsca And Bush Destroyed American Truckers?
August 23, 2009
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is working to a reach a new goal. This goal is to have 100 Mexican trucking companies working on American roads. One way they are working to reach this goal is by extending a pilot program that provides trucking jobs to Mexican owned and operated rigs.
Letas be clear. This could kill the American trucking business. With cheaper alternatives available, local trucking jobs could disappear. How did this happen? Congress had not supported this plan. The Bush administration circumvented Congress by enacting this plan while Congress was in recess for the summer.
Making a bad situation for American truckers even worse is the fact that the FMCSA is not providing a level playing field for completion between American and Mexican truckers. American trucks must reach certain safety and security standards. The Mexican trucks do not have to meet these same standards. Not only is the FMCSA giving away American jobs, but they are not considering the impact this could have on public safety.
There is no denying that fuel costs are up and that this is destroying truck driversa profits. There is already a shortage of about 11,000 drivers in America and as the price of fuel continues to rise this shortage will continue to grow. The shortage will be felt most acutely on long-haul routes (like the Wal-Mart driving jobs) because of new economic realities.
Truckers feel that the way the FMCSA (and President Bush) have gone about supporting the plan to put Mexican truckers on American roads is wrong. It has largely been done in secret, or while no one could stop them (like enacting out while Congress was out of session). Why have they gone about it in this way? One theory is that the agency is trying to avoid the level of scrutiny that happened when the public found out about Dubai companies running U.S. ports.
The FMCSA certainly isnat talking. They will not answer any questions about the program. They refuse to return phone calls about the program. So who are people calling? Their congressperson. Of course, Congress never approved of this program! They opposed giving Mexican owned and operated trucks unlimited access to American roads and trucking jobs, and it was enacted when they were in recess.
The Senate has attempted to stop the Mexican Truck Demonstration Program. Senator Byron Dorgan, the Democratic senator from North Dakota, amended the Senate Transportation Appropriations Bill to end funding for the program. The FMCSA, with the support of the Bush White House, continues the will of silence about the program.
Independent truckers are still hoping that the issue will garner the attention that it deserves. With a general election mere months away, the Bush administration is frantically attempting to push through legislation while it still can, and at this point it’s a race against time.
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