Mexican big rigs could threaten trucker wages, drivers say

PHARR — San Juan long-haul trucker George Villanueva spent a few days in Dallas last week drum-ming up alternate business for his transportation company.

For more than a quarter century, Villanueva and other Rio Grande Valley truckers have hauled tons of maquiladora-produced goods north into the interior United States.

But he expects business to start drying up now that the U.S. government has opened the roads to lower-wage drivers from Mexico.

Very soon, he says, local truckers may have to start looking away from the Valley for business, meaning less time at home with family.

“It will put us as a middleman out of business,” said Villanueva, owner of Rhino Transport. “I might as well leave the Valley.”

After years of political wrangling and protests from the Teamsters union, select Mexican big-rig drivers will cross international bridges in the Valley today destined for factories and warehouses across the United States — the pilot program to a long-awaited aspect of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The pilot program will allow about 100 selected Mexican trucking companies to start delivering into the United States. Eventually, all approved companies will be able to sign up for the program.

Teamsters, independent truckers and even environmental groups vehemently oppose the plan, claim-ing less experienced Mexican truck drivers will drive down wages, create safety problems and hurt the environment with pollution-emitting rigs.

Local truckers say their livelihoods are at stake.

Local distribution warehouses and trucking companies, meanwhile, say they will adjust to the new rules of the road but are unsure of the long-term effects on the American trucking industry.

Matters of concern

More than 3,300 people in Hidalgo County work as truckers or for logistics companies, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Another 980 people work in support industries, such as customs brokerage firms.

Together, the more than 4,000 workers provide much of the backbone for the maquiladora industry that has fueled economic growth in the Valley for the last decade.

Opponents say the program would force many of those 4,000 to compete with workers that earn less than half the wage of American truck drivers.

The average trucker in the United States earns about $33,000 a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maquiladora industry experts say Mexi-can truckers earn half that, and in many cases far less.

“With rising gas prices, it’s harder for drivers to make money,” said Romeo Cantu, a San Juan truck driver.

“The only concern that I have is how much (Mexican truckers) will be charging.”

Teamsters contend that allowing Mexican truckers on U.S. roads will be unsafe, said Leslie Miller, a spokeswoman for the union. U.S. drivers are held to stricter safety standards, she said. They also have more licensing requirements.

“It’s no secret that it’s easy for an unqualified driver to get a Mexican driver’s license,” said Teamsters union general president James P. Hoffa in a statement last week.

“A period of time”

Since 1982, the U.S. government has only allowed Mexican truck drivers to operate in the commercial zone between the U.S.-Mexico border and customs checkpoints such as Falfurrias.

Somewhere inside the commercial zone those drivers drop off their goods at a distribution warehouse and a U.S. driver picks up the cargo and hauls it to destinations throughout the country. Transferring loads costs consumers about $4 billion a year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The rules have led to a well-established arrangement in the Valley.

Mexican drivers make the arduous journey back and forth across the bridge from maquiladoras south of the border to distribution centers in the United States, putting lower-wage drivers on the bridge.

The new provision allowing Mexican truckers into the U.S. interior also allows U.S. drivers to start making trips into Mexico, but higher wages for U.S. truckers will likely prevent most Americans from making the trip into Mexico, said Villanueva, the Rhino Transport owner.

Business officials say the immediate impact from the new measure will be minimal. Mexican trucking companies will have to teach drivers English and license trucks to drive in all 50 states, said Keith Patridge, president of the McAllen Economic Development Corp.

“I think it will impact over a period time. What that period of time is I don’t know,” Patridge said. “There are a lot of economic and practical issues that will lessen the impact.”

‘Legal restrictions’

Local trucking companies say they will adjust to any changes to stay competitive.

“It’s no longer an issue of our thoughts on the law, but how we will meet the changing tides of international freight transportation,” said Joe David Garza, one of the founders of Spirit Truck Lines in San Juan, which operates about 200 trucks.

The new rule could actually save some local companies thousands of dollars in unnecessary freight transfer costs, said Frank King, president of Am-Mex Produces, a distribution warehouse and light manufacturer with operations in McAllen and Reynosa.

“It helps us, because in theory if it works, there is less wrangling to get our shipments to the northern part of the U.S.,” King said. “It would be less costly and quicker. You don’t have to switch drivers.”

King and others dismiss the notion that the rule could eliminate distribution hubs located along the border.

Patridge said the Valley is still a vital distribution point for American goods.

Many companies also already operate distribution centers in South Texas. Abandoning those would mean taking a loss on investments.

There is also a question about the cost for Mexican truck companies to license vehicles in all 50 states, Patridge said.

“The legal restrictions that have existed in the past will be replaced by economics,” he said.