Bush tries to reassure skeptical Mexico – Americas – MSNBC.com.

MSNBC News Services

MERIDA, Mexico – …Bush promised to do his best to get a deeply divided U.S. Congress to change policies that are hated south of the border.

“My pledge to you and your government, but more important to the people of Mexico, is I’ll work as hard as I possibly can to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Bush said…

Thanks, President Bush!

Learn Spanish now! This one is my favorite. (Sign up for free lessons) They have a forum and teleconferences. I’m almost done with the first level (30 half hour lessons), including slang and the “bad” words! I’ll soon be starting on Level2. This one is pretty good too. This has a quick shortcut, using English words you already now. Think I’m joking??? Been to a warehouse lately? ANYWHERE?! It doesn’t matter if it’s Southern California, Texas or New Jersey.

One last point -

The two also brought up narcotrafficking — an issue Bush thinks needs to be tackled regionally.

Calderon also is critical of the Bush administration’s efforts to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

“We need the collaboration and the active participation of our neighbor,”
he said Tuesday. “Knowing that while we will not reduce the demand for
drugs in a certain area, it will be very difficult to reduce the supply
in ours.”

It’s our fault they have a drug supply problem because of our demand problem. This entire article made me sick to my stomach.

Originally posted 2007-03-14 07:06:00.

SPECIAL REPORT: Big questions remain on
Mexican pilot program .
Charlie Parfrey, president of Parfrey Trucking Brokerage in Spokane, WA, testified on behalf of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Almost immediately, he condemned the “deceitfulness of the DOT,” saying the agency pushed the program through without open, unrestricted review.

In light of the fact the program has not been published in the Federal Register for public view and comment, Parfrey pointed out to Senate subcommittee members that without having had the opportunity to review and analyze specific data, proposals, and agreements, truckers and highway users alike are left with a tremendous number of unanswered questions.

“Their effort has been almost entirely secret and beyond public view or scrutiny. OOIDA firmly believes that DOT has not complied with Section 350 of the 2002 Transportations Appropriations Act,” Parfrey testified.

The cloak of secrecy that has essentially shut out public input and oversight drew speculation from the opponents as to the true intent of the program.

Don’t forget Trans-Texas Corridor , here’s another driver’s comments on the issue. And a couple of my favorite immigration sites. American’s for Legal Immigration and of course Vdare.com and their great blog. On a side note – Help the two Border Patrol Agents. If I need to explain, you’ve been under a rock for too long, catch up! Here and Here. And a new trucking book recommendation.

Originally posted 2007-03-13 18:07:56.

Critics bash Mexican truck decision
Business groups have wanted the border opened to avoid middleman costs of transferring goods from Mexican to U.S. trucks.

The American Trucking Associations said it supports the program, but wants to make sure that U.S. and Mexican truck companies are held to the same standards.

“We also are waiting to see that when US carriers are allowed to travel into Mexico that the regulatory and permitting process that U.S. carriers undergo is fair and transparent,” the ATA said in a statement.

Let’s bury our heads in the sand when it comes to the violence and vandalism that is already occurring.

And of course Public Citizen has to keep itself in the spotlight somehow -

Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, said inspections will be
meaningless because the trucks won’t have black boxes that record how
long a driver has been behind the wheel.

“They have no way of telling how many hours these truck drivers have
been driving before they get to the U.S., let alone when they get
here,” Claybrook said.

She may have a point, but black boxes aren’t the answer.

And check this out – You’ll have to click on the title to go see the picture,

VDARE.com: Blog Articles ? Mexico Battle Lines — There and Here.

This photo looks like something straight from Baghdad, but it’s actually just across the border in Tijuana. The Mexican government has stationed military checkpoints on the edge of town so the army can check for serious weapons (RPGs are popular)
and other signs of criminal activity. As well it should, since more
than 300 people were murdered last year in the city. Many Mexican
police are on the payroll of the drug cartels, so el Presidente Calderon’s only hope of rescuing his country from total crime anarchy has been to send in the troops to various hot spots.

Not only is tourism down, but kidnapping for ransom is up, and many well heeled Tjuanans are “moving” north to San Diego. At least the worsening crime wave is swell news for the armor-plating shops.

Who in their right mind would go there to work/drive a truck or do anything?

Originally posted 2007-02-27 08:05:00.

For some reason, this site is pretty high on google, it would be a waste not to take advantage of that. I can still update and edit Life on the Road and I think it will help both sites.

So, please standby for the bigger and better – Trucking Blog Network, The Source for Trucking News and Opinions.

Originally posted 2007-07-16 13:25:18.

Creatures of Habit
by Todd Dills
…and especially those whose net income ranks in
the top 25 percent — reveals highlights on the road to success. The
typical high-earning owner-operator is a little more than 50 years old
and has been in business as an owner-operator since he was 30. He makes
more than $70,000 a year after expenses and is three times as likely to
be leased as independent.

The top 25% have these seven practices in common -

Work for percentage of gross

I was always hesitant about working for a percentage, because you’re never sure about where the carrier is drawing their 100% mark and what they tell you is the gross number. I get a copy of the same confirmation from the broker that is sent to my carrier. Plus, I’m able to talk about price at any time with anyone. If a broker tells you he can’t say how much he’s paying, something’s wrong.

Buy your own trailer

Check.

Invest in an APU - According to the Behavior Report, a third of owner-operators have APUs and average $7,000 more in income than those who don’t.

Check. With all the APU’s on the market now, there’s no excuse to idle away your fuel money. Even buying a used truck, you can get an APU put on and included with the financing for the rest of the truck.

Maintain a sizable savings fund

This one we’re still working on.

Do regular oil analysis

Check

Buy new equipment

Check. On both of my used trucks, between the payment and extra maintenance and breaking down, I was paying the equivalent of a new truck payment. Now with a new truck we don’t have the downtime and major work is probably under warranty.

Keep detailed records -This is perhaps the key characteristic of high
earners, Brady says. Making money comes from an awareness of every
piece of the puzzle, from whether a shipper’s paid the fuel surcharge
you asked for, to the fuel economy you’re getting after that in-frame
overhaul, to what the level of metals in your oil means.

I made my own really big spreadsheet, I know what I make and spend per mile and per day for most everything related to the truck.

I would add one more -

Surround yourself with the best. Probably the most important thing I like about this company is that everything is out in the open.  I think because of that and the attitude and vision of the owner, this company has attracted some of the best people that bring their customers with them and are able to get more great customers. They get the customers and we keep the customers with premium hands-on white-glove dependable service.

February was really bad for everyone, we did about the same as other drivers in our company and now I find out we did better than most in our part of the industry (pad wrap).  March was a little below average, but not bad. With new customers and accounts that are coming in, the rest of the year looks pretty good.

Originally posted 2007-04-02 22:55:21.

There are so many people against this, who exactly is pushing this so hard? My thought has always been that it’s the large trucking corporations that invested and partnered with Mexican trucking companies waiting for this day ever since NAFTA came about. The only motive a large corporation has is profit, period. How they are going to get to that profit is what I’m worried about.

In a seemingly unrelated story – Teamsters are trying to take over trucking at the ports in LA and Long Beach. I also remember reading owner operators might be able to organize at the ports. So, what! Can’t you hear the people behind the Super Port and NAFTA Super highways laughing their butts off? The Teamsters will get what they want for about five minutes before the ports shut down and everything moves to Mexico. They are signing their own death warrants.

How the greedy US corporations are going to get their profits and all the drug cartel violence in the Mexican border cities and the increased possibilities for drug and people smuggling, I wouldn’t have a problem with any of this.

Finally I have a reliable source for another side of this story. A US driver that lives and drives in Mexico leaves this comment and has started another blog over here. The drive he mentions sounds like it would be`great. I know my opinion is only based on what is in the news and what I read. I’ve never driven in Mexico and honestly, would be scared to death to go down there on my own, even knowing the little Spanish I do know, I’m sure it wouldn’t be enough. Kind of like driving around Quebec (which I don’t do anymore!) but worse. One thing goes wrong and you’d never hear from me again!

I’m sure it’s a great place to drive around and the people and culture stuff are great and it would be the experience of a lifetime, maybe someday. But for now I’ll live through Porter’s stories and experiences.