المصدر ل يقايض أخبار, آراء ويقايض أشغال | أكثر مكسيكيّة شاحنة مادّة خام

I’m sure you’re right on about the major carriers being behind the push for Mexican carriers-especially since they have been able to purchase Mexico-domiciled carriers outright. But there are other players in this game: the Big Box shippers, and the major manufacturers we all haul products for (tires to toilet paper-take your pick). With the fuel surcharge, their transportation costs are going up. Then, too they sit on the boards of many of the major US carriers and vote their own interests with the ATA. Then you have the big stockholders-who are making real returns for the first time in transport stocks….they fully intend to feed their greed.

A carrier doesnt need to own a Mexican carrier-there are big bucks to be made in logistics if you can get the driver for cheap. And cheap they will be, when you consider not only a lower wage, but no social security tax, no workers comp, nounemployment or medicaid tax,probably no medical insurance or 401(k)-all things a US driver expects. I wonder which one of these US-influenced carriers Porter works for? Sounds like damage-control/propaganda to me.

That there is a planned, concerted effort on the part of many major players behind this is obvious: in my particular company, we are sitting-no freight, we are told. OUR wages have dropped about 30% in the last 5 months. Yet, freight is sitting on the docks and no one is being dispatched to haul it. There’s an active push to force higher-paid drivers out of the industry thru various means. Is this so we can claim a driver shortage? There’s fsar more to this than meets the casual eye…is this what the administration thinks is needed to jump-start a failing economy?

Thanks to the “Driver Shortage”, companies always get the drivers at the top scale to quit and move on. Same thing with Brokers trying to sell freight at a buck a mile. And they say we need more drivers???

I have a line of Tracking devices and Navigation Units. If you need anything let me know.

Alice, I am not the least ashamed to tell who I work for. Intercon Carriers of Laredo Texas. We have about 200 units on the road, 60% owner operator and also operate a Logistics unit.

The owners here on the border are not concerned about the pending opening of the border. They see it as neither a positive nor a negative.

The forwarding agencies don’t seem concerned either as new construction seems to be exploding. Strange that would be the case since it would seem the forwarding agencies would be the first casualties of this new program.

My comments, nor my blogs, http://www.mexicotrucker.com and http://www.mexicoverdad.com have anything to do with damage control nor propaganda. If the truth be known, I could care less whether they allow the Mexican trucks in this country. The issue I have is all the people using anecdotal evidence, blatant lies and presumptions of a country and people they know nothing about. I can respect the other sides opinion, but back it up with facts, not suppositions. And those who claim to be experts on the subject, the drivers who call and whine on the overnight trucking shows, have never set foot into the interior of Mexico nor socialized and lived amongst the people.

Concerning taxes and such. Canadian carriers who come into the U.S. pay the same SSR, IFTA taxes that we do. Mexican carriers will be held to the same requirements. They don’t pay, the next year they do not receive their permits to operate. Same as the U.S. carriers.

Under IRS law, drivers from Canada are supposed to pay a pro-rated tax based on earnings made in the U.S. to the IRS. In reality, I doubt that very few of them bother. The same will hold true of the Mexicans. And to be honest, it isn’t an issue. The Canadians, and soon the Mexicans really don’t use the services to any appreciable extent that we pay income taxes for.

Living in Mexico, I am supposed to pay a similiar tax to the Mexican government as are the estimated 450,000 ex-pats living here, but I don’t. I pay my property taxes to the cities in which I have homes and I pay a 10% VAT tax on all purchases, including services, which is the model Mexico has in place in lieu of income taxes.

But concerning the Mexican drivers and their pay. They will not be paid by American employers. They will be paid by the company they work for. Irregardless whether the company is “American owned”. If it is registered in Mexico, it is controlled by Mexican law. Therefore, they are not required to deduct U.S. Social Security payments. Nor is Canadian companies required to do so for their drivers.

However, in Mexico, approximately 25% of a workers wages are paid to IMSS (Mexico Social Security) http://www.imss.gob.mx/imss

That may sound like a large percentage but for that payment, the Mexican worker receives for himself and his family, excellent FREE healthcare at IMSS hospitals and clinics. There are other benefits also that you can check out on their website.

One of the biggest things that chaps my ass royally is to hear Steve Sommers and others swear that there is no databases in Mexico. Take a moment and look at the State Government websites, the links of which I have posted here http://mexicotrucker.com/?page_id=246 . Use GOOGLE translations to translate. Now consider on these pages, in most states, citizens can pay taxes online, check for traffic tickets and pay them online, pay property taxes, get assessments, renew license plates and a myriad of other things. All of this takes an extensive database. But to address the question of drivers databases, do a GOOGLE for LFIS. That is the Mexican equivalent of our CDL database and since 2002, it has been compatible and accessible by U.S. systems. How do you think ICE keeps track of and validates the shuttle drivers crossing the border.

People need to put aside their bigotry and look at the facts with an open mind. And before you get your panties in a bunch, look up prejudice and bigotry in the wikipedia and you will see in the context I use the words

For I assure you, that if for one nanosecond I had any doubts or suspicions that this program or the drivers involved would effect my ability to earn a living and enjoy the lifestyle I have, I would be vehemently opposed to it.

So, if the wages and benefits are so great, why are 12 million Mexicans in the US illegally? And why is the second largest income for Mexico behind oil, the money Mexicans send back from the US?

Never said the wages and benefits were great, at least not in our eyes, but in a country where a factory worker is making $85.00 week, U.S. equivalent, a Mexican trucker driving 2500 miles per week and earning $.15 cpm ($425.00) is making 5 times the average blue collar wage. That puts him in the middle class of Mexican society, allows his children to attend private schools if he desires, buys him a nice home in a safe colonia. It gives him the Mexican equivalent of the American dream. So for the Mexican driver, he has every incentive to play by the rules.

You mention the alleged 12 million illegals in the country Wayne and to qualify that, I will say they have absolutely nothing to do with the Mexican truck issue.

The 12 million here did not arrive overnight. If you will look on my other website, mexicoverdad.com and read the bracero agreement and a couple of other documents there, it will give you a better understanding. The illegals that come to this country are generally from the poorer states in the south of Mexico, Chiapas etc. When you refer to Mexico as a third world country, this is the region that fits this model. Indigenous people, farmers, laborers from unimproved villages. No work to speak of so they send husbands and brothers north.

You also have the Mexican farmers who have been displaced by American subsidies on corn which is a staple crop in Mexico. When it is cheaper to import it from the U.S., than it is to grow it at home, the little man loses.

And here lately,Mexico has discovered that it can import from China, chiles, while although not a flavorful as those grown at home, the price offsets the difference. Thus, you have the chile farmers who cannot earn a profit from their land.
So you have the farmers leaving the land and family and coming north.

You also have people, generally from the south of the country, who have no birth certificates. And in Mexico, without a birth certificate, you are a non-person. These people were born in small villages without a Civil Registro to register the births and no means to travel to a town with one which in some cases can be more than 100 km distance. So you have this class with no birth certificates and without this document, you cannot obtain a Tarjeta Electoral, or voters card which is the de facto national ID. without the ID, they can do nothing, they cannot attend school, obtain a legitimate job that pays into the system, In other words, they are nothing. These are the main group coming.

There are professionals who come and overstay their visas and are considered illegal, but these people are ignored.

I think the solution would be to ease the requirements to allow these folks in, secure the border and arrest those who enter illegally. Because once you ease the restrictions and allow the normal citizen to come and go, the only ones trying to sneak in would be the undesirables and they could then be treated as the criminals they are.

This whole debate is pointless because without common sense and logic, there is no solution.

I didn’t mean to get sidetracked and we basically agree – the border needs to be secure and something needs to be done with the people already here. And I’ll admit I need to learn more about life in Mexico.

This will give you a beginning. I just returned from another short “road trip” with photos including one of a Federale doing an inspection of a Mexican road rig. Same protocol as they do it here.

This is the link to the gallery. I am still working out the bugs on it.

http://mexicotrucker.com/?page_id=253

A bill was passed in the House on May 15, that hopefully will get picked up in the Senate (write your Senators!) putting some brakes on this program, but it will still have to go through more steps. Your voices matter on this. The DOT has not provided complete answers regarding safety and security. You can post comment against this program on the Federal Registry at the link below.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/rulemakings/rule-programs/rule_making_details.asp?ruleid=184&year=2007&cat=notice

I’m really pleased with the research done by you. These white folks need to be educated about other countries life style, rules and regulations, and I feel you are doing just that.

Regarding illegal immigration, here are my two cents, most of us come here under the impression that we are going to become rich, that there is so much money just laying around because of all the ads put by the US government in the international media. Reality is that if you don’t work hard, learn the language, you will live in worse poverty then where you come from. For Example, if you don’t have enough money to pay rent, you get kicked out, down south, you own your own home, if you need medical attention, the government will provide you with good medical attention, not like the hospitals in LA where everyone saw the patients being transported to the poor end of town to be left unattended.

Once again, thanks!