I am not surprised that this happened. If it is the responsibility of inspectors from a third party to check the freight coming into the country then it is not UP's fault. I am a little surprised that UP doesn't inspect the freight but I guess that's the third party's job according to the article.
I would assume that RR interchanges between UP and Ferromex is no different than the interchange between domestic railroads. Lycoming Valley RR has an interchange with Canadian Pacific in Northeastern Pa. and is no different than it's interchange with Norfolk Southern. However things maybe different considering the tighter border security between the U.S. and Mexico.
wilmette2210It appears that Union Pacific has been the latest victim of Mexican Drug Cartels, to see what I mean go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123742489945279423.html and tell me what you think. Do you think UP should be fined? Also can anyone who is familiar with freight operations at the border explain or give me a sense of how the interchange between ferromax and UP work? Finally I saw a forum on officer.com about this and apparently the Border Patrol has there own switch engine, is this true? Please let me know thank you.
Tthis article is old (March, 2009). There are actually two cases - on the govenrment filed against UP, and an earlier case UP filed against the government. I don't know what the current status of the litigation is.
I haven't seen the Ferromex-UP border interchange, but I've seen other border crossings, and the setup is probably the same. If so, they way it works is that U.S. Customs inspects the train at the border, both physically and with a VACIS machine, before it is released for movement in the U.S.. It's possible that a UP loco is attached to the train before it is pulled through the VACIS machine, but I don't know this as a fact. In any event, the train can't go anywhere until U.S. customs is through with it. In other words, all the stuff UP is being charged with is probably stuff the U.S. Customs inspectors missed before the train was turned over to UP
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CShaveRRAs UP has explained countless times, sending its own police force into Mexico would do nothing except put them in danger.
Sounds kind of odd that a corporation is being fined for not doing what a federal agency is mandated to do---or something like that. I guess it is going to be like the trucking industry--cross border inspections by both the industry AND the federal agency----and whatever else wants to get in there---
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The cross border carrier can be part of the solution or can turn a blind eye and expect others to solve the problem. If you're engaging in cross-border commerce, that's part of the price of playing, you have be knowledgable and responsible with what you're bringing across the border. You need to qualify your trading partners (customers) and understand what they are shipping and whether you need to inpect that freight.
Let's change the scenario and say that this was an owner-operator trucker instead of the great and mighty Union Pacific RR. If that owner operator got stopped at the border with 300 lbs of marijuana in the truck, would you immediately exhonerate the driver / owner because he's just the business owner? If he said, "Jeez, I didn't know, the customer loaded the truck." Would you buy that as a plausible exuse and let the guy walk? In the case of the owner operator or the RR, even despite of the size and bureaucracy of the RR, you have a responsibility to know what you're moving. If you remove that accountability, you're going to find that the employees and / or agents of the carrier suddenly have a LOT less motivation to make sure it's done right. What's the incentive to do things right if there are no penalites to the carrier.
Believe me, somebody is going to be crawling up the backside of the shipper and the intended receiver of that load to see where the stuff was coming from and going to, but you can't let UP walk without repercussion.
I work for a big cross-border carrier and I don't like to see us tied up in such messes, but security is a shared responsibility between ALL parties to that load and the carrier is a party to the load.
It is all legal BS and it is far from any of us, except lawyers, to speculate as to the legalities, etc. However, it does seem to me to be a matter of legerdemain or deflection of responsiblity in the public eye. In other words, to make the government look good they try to make the UP look bad. Meanwhile, the problem continues. Of course, as long as there is a profitable market in the US for the product, imports will continue. But lets not elminate the market lest we stomp on somebody's rights.
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wilmette2210Thank you but I want you tio read this fourm on a different web site on the smae topic and confirm if it is true that the border patroal has it's own switch engine for the interchanges to see what I mean go to http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97043&highlight=union+pacific thank you.
wilmette2210,
no, the Border Patrol doesn't have their own switch engines. Legacy Customs Inspectors and Legacy Immigration Inspectors, now refered to as Customs and Border Protection Officers, may have access to a switch engine at that yard. Border Patrol Agents (green shirts) and Customs and Border Protection Officers (blue shirts), although under one agency, are distinct and tasked with two different missions. Under DHS, CBP, or Customs and Border Protection, is the agency where those who worked at the Ports of Entry or in between the Ports were dumped together. Best way to explain the difference is that the CBPO's (blue shirts) look for 'things' and the BP (green shirts) look for people. Hope this helps.
Doublestack The cross border carrier can be part of the solution or can turn a blind eye and expect others to solve the problem. If you're engaging in cross-border commerce, that's part of the price of playing, you have be knowledgable and responsible with what you're bringing across the border. You need to qualify your trading partners (customers) and understand what they are shipping and whether you need to inpect that freight. Let's change the scenario and say that this was an owner-operator trucker instead of the great and mighty Union Pacific RR. If that owner operator got stopped at the border with 300 lbs of marijuana in the truck, would you immediately exhonerate the driver / owner because he's just the business owner? If he said, "Jeez, I didn't know, the customer loaded the truck." Would you buy that as a plausible exuse and let the guy walk? In the case of the owner operator or the RR, even despite of the size and bureaucracy of the RR, you have a responsibility to know what you're moving. If you remove that accountability, you're going to find that the employees and / or agents of the carrier suddenly have a LOT less motivation to make sure it's done right. What's the incentive to do things right if there are no penalites to the carrier. Believe me, somebody is going to be crawling up the backside of the shipper and the intended receiver of that load to see where the stuff was coming from and going to, but you can't let UP walk without repercussion. I work for a big cross-border carrier and I don't like to see us tied up in such messes, but security is a shared responsibility between ALL parties to that load and the carrier is a party to the load.
There's an important difference between your owner-operator example and UP's situation. UP doesn't operate into Mexico, and it isn't the entity which brings the traffic into the U.S. It receives the traffic from a different railroad - Ferromex - at the border after it clears customs. Ferromex is the entity which brings it to the border for entry into the US. Now, it's true that UP has a financial interest in Ferromex - it's a minority shareholder. But Ferromex is definitely not under UP control - it's controlled by a Mexican firm - and it is not UP's alter ego. Holding UP responsible for this is like holding CSX responsible for international traffic it receives from connecting carriers at Chicago.
The way I read the suit....since UP has a 26% financial interest in FerroMex they are postulating that UP has control of FerroMex operations procedures and thus are liable. A strech to my Holiday Inn Express legal mind.
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doghouseno, the Border Patrol doesn't have their own switch engines. Legacy Customs Inspectors and Legacy Immigration Inspectors, now refered to as Customs and Border Protection Officers, may have access to a switch engine at that yard. Border Patrol Agents (green shirts) and Customs and Border Protection Officers (blue shirts), although under one agency, are distinct and tasked with two different missions. Under DHS, CBP, or Customs and Border Protection, is the agency where those who worked at the Ports of Entry or in between the Ports were dumped together. Best way to explain the difference is that the CBPO's (blue shirts) look for 'things' and the BP (green shirts) look for people. Hope this helps.
Another way to look at Customs vs Border patrol was Customs used to be part of the Department of Treasury, while Border Patrol was part of Department of Justice. Customs original job was to make sure import duties were paid, keeping in mind that when the US Government was set up, the only tax revenues were from import duties collected by Customs. Since Customs was part of the Treasury Department for over 210 years, the change to DHS was met with some resistance.
I think it's another thread here that included mention of "bandits" disabling a stack train and cleaning out a container before anybody can say "boo." Since they seem to target specific containers based on contents, someone is helping them. Where the train crew is complicit is certainly a consideration. Taking one's time looking for the problem would appear harmless enough...
The problem with the drug trade is that there is substantial money involved, which might tempt just about anyone with financial issues, and a lot of people who don't.
The airline industry has had similar issues, in which many times there are crew members involved (often just on the ground - the flight crew simply serves as an unknowing mule).
I'm waiting for the day when a covered hopper comes across the border filled with one of those illegal substances.
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I would think that UP may find an easy way out by selling their interest in Ferromex and ceasing to handle their freight into the US. I think that 38 mln dollars is big bucks even for such big company and could mean that they suffer operational losses on that type of traffic anyway.
I'm sure that then KCS and BNSF will be fined until the day when the US stop the trade with Mexico altogether or the Customs people do a better job.
But it may be a case to be adjudicated to set precidence and draw lines. It maybe invaluable to all American businesses doing business in Mexico and elsewhere as well as to the transportation industry.
erikem doghouse no, the Border Patrol doesn't have their own switch engines. Legacy Customs Inspectors and Legacy Immigration Inspectors, now refered to as Customs and Border Protection Officers, may have access to a switch engine at that yard. Border Patrol Agents (green shirts) and Customs and Border Protection Officers (blue shirts), although under one agency, are distinct and tasked with two different missions. Under DHS, CBP, or Customs and Border Protection, is the agency where those who worked at the Ports of Entry or in between the Ports were dumped together. Best way to explain the difference is that the CBPO's (blue shirts) look for 'things' and the BP (green shirts) look for people. Hope this helps. Another way to look at Customs vs Border patrol was Customs used to be part of the Department of Treasury, while Border Patrol was part of Department of Justice. Customs original job was to make sure import duties were paid, keeping in mind that when the US Government was set up, the only tax revenues were from import duties collected by Customs. Since Customs was part of the Treasury Department for over 210 years, the change to DHS was met with some resistance.
doghouse no, the Border Patrol doesn't have their own switch engines. Legacy Customs Inspectors and Legacy Immigration Inspectors, now refered to as Customs and Border Protection Officers, may have access to a switch engine at that yard. Border Patrol Agents (green shirts) and Customs and Border Protection Officers (blue shirts), although under one agency, are distinct and tasked with two different missions. Under DHS, CBP, or Customs and Border Protection, is the agency where those who worked at the Ports of Entry or in between the Ports were dumped together. Best way to explain the difference is that the CBPO's (blue shirts) look for 'things' and the BP (green shirts) look for people. Hope this helps.
Not as much resistance as when the Border Patrol was forced into DHS! As for the topic of this thread, government doesn't always make sense. There has to be other reasons why the UP was fined and the government was so persistent in this case. Make one wonder?
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