Mexican strawberries squeeze Hillsborough farmers

Mexico is exporting a record number of strawberries to the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Through Jan. 28, Mexico exported 20 percent more of the fruit than the same period a year before, which also was a record-setting year.

"Mexico is importing more and more each year over past four or five years," said Carl Grooms, owner of Fancy Farms in Plant City. "Anytime another country brings in an agricultural item and puts it on a shelf, it takes away opportunities of American farmers."

The problems that come with importing goods is a double-edge sword. Competition is good, and should always be seen as such. Competition is what keeps prices down and controls the market. If we only had one strawberry farmer, they would control the prices, making a huge profit and no one to say otherwise.

But when you’re losing American jobs because of it, then that becomes the problem. I think a lot of this can be changed with better marketing schemes. American consumers like to purchase American products. We feel like it’s our duty to support the local farmer, so I believe there could lie the solution. Along with Americans enjoying the idea of domestic made goods, they could expand on that idea and show how little time is spent between the farm and the store shelf. The product is fresher when grown locale versus produce that comes from across the border.

All in all, the farmers need to do something to try and squeeze the Mexican farmers out of the market here, because they certainly aren’t going away.

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Cross-border trucking needs revisions, audit says

The cross-border trucking pilot program with Mexico needs procedural and monitoring improvement and lacks sufficient data and participation to draw safety conclusions, according to the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s latest audit.

The oversight agency’s Aug. 16 report included the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s formal response to recommendations auditors made concerning the 11-month old program. The FMCSA disagreed with the OIG’s call for revision to quality assurance procedures for pre–authorization safety audits or PASAs. These carrier reviews verify compliance in areas that include drug and alcohol testing, hours-of-service, insurance, vehicle maintenance and driver qualification.

Auditors reported that in two of three instances they reviewed, FMCSA’s quality assurance personnel approved PASA results for Mexican carriers before verifying that Mexico’s transportation ministry had tested 18 prospective pilot program driver qualifications for commercial driver’s licenses.

By law, the agency must verify Mexico has tested prospective drivers’ qualifications. The oversight did not result in Federal Register publications of PASA results or approval of unqualified drivers, but showed FMCSA had not updated its quality assurance PASA procedures to reflect this requirement, the auditors wrote.

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Fourth Mexican carrier admitted to cross-border program

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has accepted a fourth carrier to its cross-border trucking pilot program and responded to comments over the most recent round of Mexican carriers applying for authority.

Transportes Del Valle De Guadalupe of Baja California will operate one truck and one driver beyond the commercial border zone, as have the other three program participants.

The FMCSA published a May 11 Federal Register Notice and Request for Comment on Transportes’ Pre-Authorization Safety Audit, required of Mexican carriers applying to operate beyond the border zone. The notice also provided the PASAs of Higienicos Y Desechables Del Bajio and Servicios Refrigerados Internacionales.

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March Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Exceeds $85 Billion for First Time

There was so much arguing when they planned to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that our country agreed to back in 1994. Would foreign truck drivers have to follow U.S. laws? Would the U.S. pay for electronic HOS devices on foreign trucks? Would foreign truck drivers be able to stay here forever? Would foreign drivers steal business that could be given to U.S. companies? There were and still are many unanswered questions. But the idea seems to be – the agreement was a good one.

Surface trade between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, was 6.2% higher in March 2012 than in March 2011, totaling $85.8 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. March 2012 was the highest month for NATFA trade value since collection of data began in 1994, exceeding $85 billion for the first time and topping the previous record of $80.8 billion in March 2011.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in March increased by 88.2% compared to March 2002, a period of 10 years. Imports in March were up 76.1% since March 2002, while exports were up 104.5%.

U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade in March 2012 both increased compared to March 2011 with U.S.-Canada trade reaching $50.1 billion, a 2.9% increase, and U.S.-Mexico trade reaching $35.7 billion, an 11.2% increase.

More exports are leaving giving the U.S. more money and we are able to import more goods thus reducing prices of goods in the U.S. Overall, the outlook is positive… only time will tell if the trend continues. Hopefully it does.

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More Cross-Border Trucking Issues

Recently the NAFTA pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border and deliver into the U.S. has begun accepting Mexican applications. There are many restrictions as to how long they can stay and also they have to follow all the same laws the American drivers follow. The moral of the story is the high tariffs will be lifted saving America money but the Mexican drivers will come into the states and steal American jobs costing money.  This was an agreement was made back in 1995 and basically was never honored and now everyone has finally agreed on a program. No matter how you feel about it, it is happening. Personally, I see many problems with this cross border agreement…

·         I think this can have a very costly end result because now Mexicans have another way to get into the states legally and never go home. Also, with trucks being allowed to cross the border, they will have a higher likelihood of stowaways. With illegal immigration already such a big problem, I think this will only fuel the fire.

·         To those who follow the rules, this could also cause a problem for non-English speaking drivers. They could have more problems communicating with dispatch making it more difficult for them to even find work to begin with.

·         And most recently, Mexican drivers aren’t even signing up for the program. So far a minuscule 21 companies have applied and only two have been cleared to operate. Mexican companies complain that the requirements are too complicated, expensive and haven’t brought any benefits.

Hopefully there is a mutually beneficial solution in there somewhere; we’ll see how it plays out. Stay tuned.

Read more here: http://www.truckersnews.com/more-cross-border-carriers-sought/