This'n'That; October Twenty-First #1; Here They Come!!!

Increased Danger On American Highways?!?
    Today's the big day!  At least for Mexico!  New avenues opening for drug cartels and human-smuggling gangs!
"Cross-border trucking"--as it's known by it's foes--has seen delay-after-delay since it's inclusion in the 'North American Freedom, Traded Away (NAFTA).' NAFTA officially came into being on January 1, 1994, the day we first heard "that sucking sound" H. Ross Perot warned us about. Discounting Monica Lewinsky's vision of Oval Office daily life, "Slick-Willie" Clinton did at least one thing right.  For all the years of NAFTA, "Slick" and his cronies opposed "cross-border trucking," primarily for personal and highway safety concerns.
    Clearly, the Mexican federal government places lower value on human life than does the U.S. government.  Now that the drug and human-smuggling cartels have taken over the northern 'states' of Mexico the lack of concern becomes more evident by the day!  The drug smugglers have long had their way with border restrictions; crossing in rural areas, tunnelling into American border-towns, hiring American adolescents to move vehicles from parking-space-to-parking-space as well as being lookouts and runners.
    Ray DaHood--the owe-bama head of the Transportation Department--approved a permit allowing 'Transportes Olympic' to cross the U.S.-Mexican border at Laredo, Texas; Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.  This will--most likely--occur on Friday as the company moves a load of industrial machinery to Garland, Texas; fifteen miles northeast of Dallas.  Previously, Mexican freight was delivered to border cities to be transported deeper into the United States by American truckers; American trucking companies.  Among the negatives, this program will be the cost of several-to-hundreds of American trucking jobs.
    Todd Spencer, Executive VP of OOIDA (Owner-Operator, Independent Drivers Association) has long held that the Mexican government has few--if any--historical records on driver safety, driver drug testing, company safety records, et al.  I contend that American highways will be exposed to added peril with the addition of Mexican drivers.  The drivers I've observed seem not to have the same approach to driving on crowded highways, don't have the same approach to the stress involved in over-the-road trucking on American highways.  The Mexican--as a nationality--has a reduced concern for human life as evidenced by the drug cartels' takeover of cities on both sides of the border.
    I don't see this experiment-in-political-stupidity ending well!  The "Clown Prince ZERO-bama, the Narcissist's" regime is doing nothing more than pandering for more votes:  How many drivers will actually return to Mexico?!?  I think we'll find trucking assets abandoned in various rest areas and truckstops as the drivers opt for ILLEGAL ALIEN status!!
Til Nex'Time....