Mexican Truck Drivers - Why Stop There?

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.

Truck Insurance and a License: No Longer Enough Regulation for Small Motor Carriers?

Having a good-standing license and appropriate commercial truck insurance used to be enough for shippers to contract motor carriers, but new information made public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, (FMCSA), is causing many small trucking companies to worry that an already-stifled economy could get even worse.

Thanks to the FMCSA's new CSA 2010 program, information regarding company accident history, driver fitness, equipment upkeep and several other safety-related categories is now available to shippers and other freight companies alike by simply logging into the FMSCA website and viewing a comprehensive score.

What is CSA 2010?

CSA 2010, which stands for "compliance, safety and accountability," is a system proposed by the FMCSA in December of 2010 to publish a safety score for motor carriers and independent truckers to prospective employers, as well as their competition.

According to the FMCSA, an agency formed in January of 2000 that regulates the national trucking industry, the goal of CSA 2010 is to increase safety standards and reduce accidents that occur during commercial transit.

Arguments against CSA 2010

Several trucking associations that represent over 2,700 small trucking companies are challenging the FMCSA on the grounds that current CSA 2010 standards produce overall safety scores that may not be accurate. They're worried the scores will cost motor carriers jobs unfairly by increasing false conclusions based on speculation.

Trucking company spokesmen have gone on record expressing concerns for the methods by which safety scores are calculated, stating that accidents caused by other drivers will sky-rocket the scores of smaller companies, costing them jobs because motor carriers will be making false assumptions from the CSA 2010 data.

The scoring system is set on a scale of 1-100, 100 being the worst, that's derived from several categories including several possibly subjective categories such as "Unsafe driving, fatigued driving, driver fitness, controlled substance abuse, vehicle maintenance, cargo-related accidents and an overall crash indicator."

Effect on Independent Truckers

The Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, (OOIDA), has expressed concerns about the system on record as well, claiming the standards for arriving at scores is weighted against independent drivers by counting 3 years of violations and infractions as opposed to the 2 required for motor carriers.

Furthermore, the organization expresses concerns about counting all infractions including warning tickets as opposed to just convictions.

Some speculate the commercial truck insurance industry might unfairly spike rates based on the public information as well.

Official Stance and Current State of CSA 2010

According to the FMCSA official website, the initiative is meant to "improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicles." They further contend CSA 2010 "establishes a new nationwide system for making the roads safer for motor carriers and the public alike!!"

As of January 4th, 2010, CSA 2010 information is currently public and available to view on the FMCSA official site.

Patrick Winchester is a freelance writer who tells it like it is. He can also save you rates while upping your commercial truck insurance coverage. Don't buy it? Visit http://www.royaltytruckinsurance.com to find out how.

Truck Insurance Made Easy: Cargo Insurance Overview

If you ever talk to anyone really familiar with the trucking industry, you'll realize that it's intensely regulated and specialized.

This becomes a bit easier understood when you think in terms of how dangerous commercial trucking can be to employees and the general public-we're talking millions of pieces of heavy machinery circulating the highways daily.

Not to mention how vital the industry itself is-without commercial trucking, our economy would halt, (kind of scary when you think about how volatile the world's oil situation is becoming...)

As a result, the commercial truck insurance industry is also intensely regulated.

Coverages are often dictated by state or federal law when dealing with trucks of specific application, and even more so when you start looking at specific cargo. Tons of dangerous payloads such as gasoline, other fuels and hazardous materials like chemicals and pesticides are driven by commercial trucks everyday.

Cargo is largely what regulates much of the truck insurance industry. Here are a few of the most common types of cargo insurance:

General Freight

Many trucking companies do deal with hazardous materials, but there are many that exclusively deal with shipping common everyday goods. For these shippers, general freight policies exist anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 commonly, that blanket most of their usual shipments with adequate coverage.

Moving Truck Insurance or Household Goods Haulers

Both of these types of cargo insurance mean the same thing-moving vans have special privileges in many states since the nature of their business requires them to operate commonly within residential streets-places where most commercial trucks are restricted from driving.

Additionally, moving van loads can vary dramatically in value based on the customer, so special moving truck insurance policies allow fluctuated coverage so moving companies don't continuously find themselves under or over-insured.

Produce Haulers Insurance

Produce is a highly regulated commodity as it's vital to the nation's food supply and will almost always contain a degree of spoilage per load.

Produce trucks are often refrigerated as well, so produce hauler's insurance typically accounts for extra equipment as well as frequent spoilage possibilities.

Hazardous Materials Haulers

Hazardous materials haulers is really high-dollar truck insurance and it has to be by law. While general freight policies are usually under the $100,000 mark, hazardous materials haulers are almost always in 7-figure coverage levels.

Aggregate Haulers or Dump Truck Insurance

Aggregate is a construction term used to describe what you see in most dump trucks cargo-loose gravel, pavement supplies, concrete or other building materials. Dump truck insurance is highly specialized because their cargo is usually less valuable, but also looser and subject to loss. The mechanisms by which dump trucks operate are considerably more dangerous than trucks that are unloaded manually.

Related policies are sometimes called dirt, sand and gravel haulers or building materials haulers, though building materials usually encompasses tractor-trailer construction trucks more than dump trucks.

Tow Truck Insurance

Tow trucks are always used in pretty dangerous areas-either the top of a mountain, in embankments or on the sides of busy highways and freeways. Plus, their "cargo" is always another automobile that can fluctuate drastically in value. As such, tow truck insurance is its own entity, accounting for these dangerous situations and variable value of cargo.

Want some more specific info? Visit http://www.royaltytruckinsurance.com

Patrick Winchester is a commercial truck insurance writer who knows stuff. Want to know how to save on your truck insurance rates? Visit http://www.royaltytruckinsurance.com

Commercial Truck Insurance Basics: Produce Haulers Insurance

Commercial truck insurance is extremely specific. This is a direct result of the trucking industry itself being both highly regulated and extremely vital to the nation's economy.

If commercial trucking were to come to a standstill, so would our nation's commerce and food supply-it's scary to think of what might happen in big cities if commercial trucking shut down-there would be mass shortages of food, water, fuel-everything we take for granted to survive in our society.

Because of this, and to ensure the safety of people on the road as well as the goods we depend on daily, commercial truck insurance is very specific and regulated.

One example of regulated specific cargo insurance is produce haulers insurance. Here's a little more about it!

Produce Truck Insurance

Produce haulers insurance is a type of cargo insurance that produce and food haulers typically carry. Produce haulers make up a large chunk of the trucking industry and there are many motor carriers that deal with produce exclusively.

For these company's, blanket produce haulers insurance policies are available to cover all the trucks they use in their rotation.

Produce Truck Insurance Policy Specialties

One reason produce haulers is super specialized is that the trucks used in this industry are typically refrigerated, adding a whole extra system of equipment to the actual truck and an added variable that would affect the truck's cargo if it were to fail.

Furthermore, a certain percentage of hauled produce is guaranteed to spoil due to impact, shelf life or temperature. Good produce driver insurance can account for this annual spoilage and help save its industry workers money in the long run.

Other Policies To Carry With Produce Cargo Insurance

Primary liability is a coverage that's always required by law. Comprehensive coverage can help protect your truck if you're involved in an accident or it gets damaged from things like fire, theft or vandalism.

Patrick Winchester is a commercial truck insurance writer. He might even be able to write you up a truck insurance policy that can save you money. Find out how at http://www.royaltytruckinsurance.com.