The Sons of Liberty

I find myself in the unusual position today of be being in agreement with Teamster’s president Jim Hoffa. Acorrding to an article on FoxNews.com, the Bush administration today pushed forward with their unpopular plan to allow many Mexican trucking companies unrestricted access to US highways, rather than requiring their cargo be transferred to a US-based freight carrier at a port of entry as has been procedure for many years.

How can congress and the Bush administration not see the obvious issues this policy will undoubtedly create? There are a number of security and immigration issues that are completely obvious here, but there are also some significant liability issues as well. Have you ever seen how people drive in most of Mexico? There are no real traffic laws - they are more like “traffic suggestions”.  I don’t believe for one second that the freight carriers there have anywhere close to the safety requirements or safety records necessary to operate here, especially since the DoT concluded they were safe based on a 10% sample of the drivers that applied.  That being said, if someone is injured or killed due to the negligent acts of a Mexican driver, will the injured party have to file an international lawsuit in order to get some kind of settlement from the trucking company or their insurance company? What’s to stop those companies or insurers from just refusing to pay and hiding behind the fact that they are a foreign entity, making it difficult or impossible to enforce any kind of judgement? This entire situation is a giant can of worms, and the lid is being peeled back as we speak…