The debate on Mexican Truckers has temporarily cooled, although at some point it will likely heat up again. For the moment Congress has de-funded the experimental program that would have allowed a select group of Mexican truckers to haul freight into the U.S. Nonetheless, supporters of the experiment vow to fight on. In the meantime, opponents including OOIDA and the Teamsters have framed their opposition around safety. Specifically, these groups argue that Mexican trucks pose a safety risk on U.S. highways. They paint a bleak picture of Speedy Gonzales driving his rusty old GMC cabover down the interstate at 80 mph with faulty brakes and fuel tanks held in place with duct tape. Oh excuse me; I just mistakenly described an every day scene around the Port of Newark. Well suffice it to say the picture they paint of Mexican truckers ain't pretty either.
That said opposing Mexican truckers on the basis of safety is completely disingenuous. Mexicans know how to drive safely and maintain their trucks. The real issue is money, or in this case the potential lack thereof facing U.S. truckers.
As our country continues to engage in an immigration debate, we often hear that we need workers from other countries to do jobs that Americans simply won't do. Is that actually the case? Or are workers from other countries under bidding American workers for home grown jobs in this country? I say it's the latter, and that brings us back to Trucking. Driving a truck is an extremely tough job, but plenty of Americans and legal immigrants still choose this profession. No doubt driving a truck in the United States would probably be a dream job to millions if not billions of people around the world. And that's the problem. With rising fuel costs and all the other economic pressures at play the last thing U.S. Truckers need is an influx of foreign competitors.
I support free trade, but not the uninhibited flow of labor across international borders. It's one thing for an American manufacturer to save money by producing goods in Taiwan. It's another thing for an American manufacturer to save money by importing Taiwanese to produce goods here. We've ceded a handful of industries to this phenomenon already. If the U.S. opens its highways to Mexican Nationals we risk losing the trucking industry as a good source of employment for Americans. I know I sound like a labor agitator, but in this instance OOIDA and the Teamster are right.
Proponents for allowing Mexican Truckers into the U.S. focus on the potential for reducing shipping costs and the greater good that would supposedly nourish for all. If that's the case then why stop there? No doubt we could save money on health care if we encouraged more Mexican doctors and nurses to practice here. We'd lower our legal bills if we rolled out the red carpet for Mexican lawyers. Hey here's an idea. Let's open up the cockpit at good ole American Airlines to Mexican trained pilots so Grandma can save a few bucks on her visit this Thanksgiving. And while we're at it we can obviously cut insurance costs by recruiting more Mexicans into the executive ranks of the insurance industry. Hang on a minute. That latter suggestion might actually make sense. Maybe we would land some talent in the top tier of this business for a change.
Fortunately labor is but one component of the global competition equation. Countless other pieces like political stability, security, morality (read lack of corruption) infrastructure of all sorts, banking systems, the regulatory environment, natural resources and freedom in general all factor into the viability and dynamics of an economy. Places that offer only cheap labor with none of these other ingredients - pity the poor people in Africa - really have nothing to offer at all. In the U.S., arguments against globalization tend to focus only on our labor cost disadvantages. How can we compete against third world workers willing to work for almost nothing? Amazingly, we tend to overlook that the U.S. leads the world in all other areas. Hence, competing against third world countries actually comes quite easily thank you. Is anyone shaking in their boots over competition from Albania? So long as we reserve our world class economic infrastructure for Americans, we'll continue to enjoy a higher standard of living than the rest of the world even in the face of global competition.
I completely understand why Mexican truckers want to run in the U.S. Who wouldn't want to enjoy the economic opportunity this country offers its citizens? But I also understand the implications such a policy will have on American truckers. So if Washington policy makers still insist on taking us down this road, I say start with the lawyers, and see how that works out first.
Thanks for checking in...
Ed Campbell, III
http://www.1stguard.com
http://www.thetruckinsuranceextremist.blogspot.com
Ed Campbell, III is the chairman of First Guard Insurance Company a specialty insurer of long haul truckers. The Truck Insurance Extremist is a blog dedicated to Ed's observations on the insurance and trucking industries. The commentary and opinions expressed here are Ed's alone and do not represent the views of any companies or organizations.
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