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Mexico truckers protest new Texas inspections, halt trade at border bridges
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- fgonzag 5y agoMore specifically, they are protesting the wait times (up to 12 hours now), not the inspections themselves. These wait times are generally unpaid, I believe they get a single flat fee per border crossing.
- colejohnson66 5y agoMy experience talking to truck drivers is that many are paid per mile and per stop, not per hour. So sitting for 10 extra hours and not getting paid for it could easily piss someone off enough to strike. Especially if you change is as drastic as this: > One trucker told the news outlet that prior to Abbott’s order, he made two crossings into the U.S. a day. Now, he’d be lucky to have one or two a week given the long delays at the bridges.
- ilaksh 5y agoIt could be the difference between being able to pay rent or not.
- HWR_14 5y agoSimilar problem when they are waiting 10 hours for a load to finish filling. It's all unpaid time.
- hiccuphippo 5y agoJohn Oliver recently made a show on this: https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA
- sva_ 5y agoTruck drivers are treated like dog shit, seemingly anywhere. I saw some documentaries about them here in Germany, and it's an ungrateful soulsucking job. Sleep in a truck, get barely any showers, and shit in toilets that would make porta potties seem luxurious. Most of those left now seem to be eastern Europeans. People express concerns that those jobs could get automated away, but I don't necessarily share those worries. Most of those people working those jobs are near retirement age, and we'll have a real problem filling up those positions in the coming years, at least in this region. Barely any young people want to work such jobs.
- pkaye 5y agoI've been seeing news about Walmart raising their in-house trucker pay to $110k. Not sure how many truckers they have though. https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-to-110-000-leads-industry/video_fb51a758-5930-58be-bc41-a9ff37730ba9.html https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-...
- wavefunction 5y agoThey're trying to recruit existing employees for these truck driver positions.
- chottocharaii 5y agothat is misleading. $110k isn’t salary, it’s money paid to owner-drivers
- missedthecue 5y ago$95k for salaried drivers doesn't sound bad though
- bag_boy 5y agoI have worked with a lot of freight drivers. They have to do some seriously stressful tasks: - unloading pallets, some over 1.5k lbs in weight. When they’re stuck, the truck driver is responsible for getting them out, and that’s that. Not every small biz has a forklift lol. - you drop off your load in a warehouse and nobody is there to receive it/unclear directions/your pickup directions suck. You spend the next hour walking around a warehouse searching for someone to sign for you. - backing up to a dock and interrupting traffic = outraged commuters who get ridiculously upset - unloading broken pallet loads by hand. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
- munk-a 5y agoYup, trucking has become a race to the bottom. Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. I don't know when this all shifted in the past twenty years but it feels like the teamsters union (both here and in Mexico) needs to step up their game.
- Spooky23 5y agoIt started in the 80s. Deregulation of certain types of trucking allowed for unions to be broken by shifting employment to “right to work” states. There’s different types of regulation. The in-state truckers in labor friendly states get a decent deal.
- rascul 5y ago> Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. If the statistics are accurate, and my math isn't too horrible, in the US, something around 47% (679,127) of drivers (1,441,014) are owner operators. I'm not sure how many of that 679k are leasing from the company they drive for, but it's certainly not 100%. Drivers are not paying for their own maintenance when they don't lease/own the trucks. https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/
- joe_the_user 5y agoNeither of your links support your claims. I don't know if the OP is correct or not but you're just saying "that's obvious false - no evidence, here's the definition of owner-operator". If you think outrageous BS is obviously impossible, you haven't been around in the last few, where many, many abusive and egregious practices have come to light.
- rascul 5y agoI don't have any references that drivers don't pay for maintenance on trucks that they don't own/lease, I know that from friends, family, and myself having worked in the industry. I don't know how to show that here without being able to find any articles about it online. I am well aware that outrageous BS is very possible in the trucking industry, having seen it and been subjected to it myself. It's not new, even if it has recently come to light for people outside the industry. What I tried to show is that the drivers who are paying for their own maintenance on vehicles leased from the company they drive for is smaller than "generally". I don't know of any articles that show those numbers so I tried to show other statistics that would imply it. I thought the way that the comment I replied to could be perceived was unfair.
- after_care 5y ago1. Why are wait times so long? Is there anymore we can reasonably do to reduce them? 2. How much would it impact the costs of goods to pay truckers an hourly wage during these downtimes?
- fgonzag 5y agoThe inspections are political. Tx gov started them because Biden removed title 42 expulsions. He simply ramped up full inspections for 100% of trucks entering the state (under tx dot authority) instead of the random system they had before. Abbott is using the inspections as a political bargaining chip to regain title 42 expulsions.
- toomuchtodo 5y agoTexas Ag Commissioner is not a fan of Abbott’s actions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas-farm-official-blasts-governor-s-border-crackdown https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas...
- oh_sigh 5y agoPresumably a Governor has a wider view than an agricultural commissioner. For example, one would not expect an agricultural commissioner to focus on drug or gun law enforcement.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dylan604 5y agoThe Lt Governor is the key to power in Texas. Also, the Railroad Commisioner in Texas is extremely powerful compared to other states. It's all weird.
- wavefunction 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ilaksh 5y agoInteresting. That's only a few miles from me in McAllen. Coincidentally, the SpaceX "Starbase" facility is also only about 100 miles away as far as I know. What I've been told by Uber drivers is that there have previously been significant military operations in the area related to combating cartels who desire to completely control border traffic. So although the idea of searching everything or whatever they are doing is totally impractical and could result in many drivers not being able to make rent, the extensive smuggling may make things a little more complicated and difficult than people realize. But it seems like if they try to search everything it is going to end up basically killing off some drivers and totally unrealistic.
- edgyquant 5y agoHonestly it’s a difficult decision. I’m 100% for gutting cartels if possible though.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoThis will not even slow cartels in the least. Fentanyl (the main reason for these searches) is extremely potent and just as easily snuck into the country with cars as with large trucks (probably easier). This security theater by Abbott, as a Texas of about 20 years I know this type of politician. He is playing to the hard right Trumpist republicans of the state. They love all the racist policies that the Texas GOP can cook up, it has become a common theme to really glom onto fear of “the other” politics here.
- pm90 5y agoAmazing how the current Texas Government repeatedly sabotages the state’s economy. These are supposedly the business friendly party. It is a testament to the resilience of ordinary Texans (and the Mexicans right across the border) that the state continues to do so well economically.
- thatsnotlikely 5y ago
- jollybean 5y ago
- blamazon 5y ago> Mexico is almost a failed state due to cartel Can you provide a justification/explanation/citation for this claim? I have been to Mexico many times as a fascinated tourist and layperson. As yet I have not gotten an "almost failed state" vibe. While there seem to be clear challenges facing the populace, things seem to proceed fine at a day to day level.
- nomel 5y ago> as a fascinated tourist Does this mean you stayed on cartel protected tourist routes, or did you have a chance to go "off the tracks" a bit?
- blamazon 5y agoI like 4x4 style offroading/overlanding/camping and staying with local folks to practice Spanish far from resort land. So I'm gonna land on the latter in my opinion.
- nomel 5y agoTo be fair, far from resort land isn't usually where the cartels are. And, my comment wasn't meant to be as negative as it sounded. I live at the border. It's well known that the cartel regulates/protects Tijuana. A well visited Tijuana is a profitable Tijuana. They're not idiots.
- chrisbrandow 5y agoI’m assuming the commerce clause of the constitution would have some relevance here.
- ByteJockey 5y agoDepends on the authority they're claiming. If they claim to be regulating trade, that's probably gonna get slapped down really quick. The feds don't really like that. Doing background checks on the drivers would probably also get slapped down. Freedom of movement once you've been permitted entry to the US is pretty settled. If they're claiming it's to make sure the trucks are safe enough to drive on Texas roads, it's a little different. The truckers, presumably, are allowed in the country, but they can't use any of the roads in Texas. That's the same effect, but a much more grey area. That would probably have to wind its way through the court. I'm also not sure how federal highway vs Texan maintained road would play into that.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago> Freedom of movement once you've been permitted entry to the US is pretty settled. If you're driving commercially you are subject to a lot of federal and state regulations, including vehicle and paperwork inspections. Abbott is clearly exploiting that to effectively deny freedom of movement, yes, and the judiciary isn't that stupid. He knows he'll eventually lose a court case either from affected businesses or the feds - but in the meantime he gets "stuck it to the libtards" points with his constituents. It'll probably take at least a few days to get an emergency order, he'll fight that, and he'll probably waste millions taking it to the supreme court, all the while braying about "state's rights." BTW - as far as the courts are concerned you only truly have freedom of movement on foot. They've consistently maintained driving is a privilege, not a right - which is why police have to clear a very low bar to stop and detain you. Commercial bus, rail, and air travel? Even more of a 'privilege', which is why we have to submit to the pat-downs, microwave scans, anal probings, and having our luggage rifled through/stolen.
- shadowgovt 5y agoThose inspections may technically be illegal. Depending on how you turn your head and squint, impeding those trucks (especially if it's via inspections domestic vehicles don't experience) could be a violation of the commerce clause of the Constitution.
- Auracle 5y agoI mean, according to the Supreme Court you can squint your way into justifying almost anything using the commerce clause.
- shadowgovt 5y agoSure, but that's the point. The reinterpretation of the commerce clause circa the Great Depression seems (to my not-a-lawyer eyes) to imply that if these border stops are going to raise prices in Oklahoma, the Executive is within its purview to tell the Governor to give his state troopers something else to do. My gut says that Abbott knows this, but he just needs to string the legal process out 'til election day so he doesn't care.
- gowld 5y agoIt's quite a stretch to suggest that (interstate/international) Commerce clause doesn't grant the Federal gvernment the power to regulate commercial trucks crossing state and Federal borders. Oklahoma prices don't matter for this.
- ThunderSizzle 5y agoThe existence of a person may have a potential affect of some degree on interstate commerce, and therefore can be regulated in entirety under the commerce Claude. That is the reasoning behind the affordable health care act on existing without government mandated levels of health insurance e. Your existence as a human affects commerce, and therefore is penalizable. And the stupid 16th amendment. That's caused just as many problems as the commerce clause.
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- tomohawk 5y ago
- emkoemko 5y agothis will impact their economy?...
- KennyBlanken 5y agoStop feeding trolls, please.
- tomohawk 5y ago
- nomel 5y agoMaintaining international order is sometimes held above short term economic losses. See the ongoing war with Russia for another example. My question is, does Texas have the right/authority to do this?
- tomohawk 5y agoDoes Biden have the right/authority to just ignore the law and refuse to enforce it? It starts at the top. If he can do whatever he wants to do, so can/will others.
- cplusplusfellow 5y agoExactly this.
- bluefinity 5y agoNo, they definitely do not. Foreign relations is a federal responsibility, as laid out in the constitution.
- johndfsgdgdfg 5y agoRepublicans are causing humanitarian disaster to Mexican people who are immensly contributing to US economy. We've to do everything to fight against racist xenophobic republicans and treat Mexican people with honor and dignity.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jollybean 5y agoThis is hyperbolic and boderline bigoted. First, Mexicans face extreme violence form Mexicans, not Americans. They flee to America largely to avoid that, and to have some hope of prosperity, which is afforded to them by the millions. Second, responsible border control is a foundation of stability when disparate nations share a border. Open borders between a state which is to some extent run by hyper violent cartels, and where there is a normal civil situation on the other, is only going to lead to disaster. Finally, there really should be border controls going in the other direction as well. In the US->Mexico direction, there's nary any control. There are all sorts of ways to facilitate a proper customs union, keep traffic moving, and make sure everything is in order - it just takes a bit of political will.
- stevespang 5y ago
- plazmatic 5y ago
- sonicggg 5y agoWe find it silly how Russians are calling their war a "Special military operation", but have we stopped to think how we call our trade arrangement here as the "North America FREE TRADE Agreement".
- Wohlf 5y agoNAFTA removes tariffs and quotas, it doesn't supersede regulations or enforcement.
- dragonwriter 5y agoWe... don't, since 2020.
- steve76 5y ago