firemarypeters

For more than 10 years, the Teamsters have said how unsafe it is for Mexican trucks to freely roam the United States. The union has made it clear that since NAFTA was passed there has been a system in place that is not broken. This refers to the fact that for the longest time any cargo coming into the states from Mexico stopped 25 miles into the border. The trucks were then off-loaded and the cargo moved on an American truck with an American driver behind the wheel.

The safety issues go from the trucks to the drivers and back to the trucks again. Most members of Congress agree that this Mexican trucking program is a hazard waiting to happen – and why the current system was put in place. The only one who doesn’t seem to see the light here is Secretary Peters. Her inability to “get it” puts her in violation of the law, a slap in the face to working people and Congress simultaneously.

One of the safety issues that come up frequently among drivers I know is the hours-of-service. You see, in the United States a truck driver must rest after driving for 11 straight hours, which is really too long to safely wrestle a 40-ton rig at 55 or more miles an hour down the highway. But the mystery question is what happens when a Mexican driver takes eight to 10 hours just to get to the border? Are they then given another 11 hours to driver under U.S. laws? Do you want to be in the lane next to that driver on hour 19 of his trip?

While we go back and forth on all the safety issues, hours-of-service included, a press release issued during the first week of March got buried on my desk. The release, from the National Transportation Safety Board, says “NTSB Chairman Rosenker stresses the need for sleep and rest requirements as the nation marks sleep awareness week.” I don’t recall seeing a “National Sleep Awareness” card at my local card shop, but had I found one, I might have sent it to Secretary Peters.

The release states, “Throughout its 41-year history, the NTSB has seen the issue of fatigue reoccur in many of its accident investigations with fatal results. As a result, [the] NTSB has studied operator fatigue and issued recommendations calling for improved scheduling regulations and practices, education for operators and employers concerning fatigue and sleep disorders, and research to better understand the risks associated with fatigue in transportation.”

I do not doubt that this is true, I do doubt, however, whether Mary knows what it is like to work a tractor trailer at 3 a.m. on a rainy highway. I am also doubtful she read the release from the NTSB.

So, while Mary sleeps, comfortable in the arrogance of this lame duck administration, there’s a phone ringing in a 911 dispatch center. She won’t answer it. She doesn’t care.

And that’s why the Teamsters are screaming for her to be fired. Maybe that will wake her up.