Nation's truckers considering work stoppage

[Subdivisions]

in protest of high fuel prices.

Just now on CNN, Rick Sanchez spoke with several truckers at a truck stop in Georgia. When asked by Sanchez if this was true, all the truckers at the table answered in the affirmative and said that it would be a nationwide stoppage defined as parking their trucks for up to TWO WEEKS in prostest of the cost of fuel.

Can you imagine?

Edited to add: I've never asked to have one of my OPs rec-ed up, but I really would appreciate it for this one because I'm hoping to hear from some truckers about their experience and maybe we have some here on DU.

[LakeSamish706]

1. Aw that will be no problem, Shrub will just bring in the Mexican truckers that...

he has wanted all along anyway.

:sarcasm:

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. That will be a huge problem. It will backfire on the cheap labor CONservatives, big time!

[LakeSamish706]

8. Yep, probably true but it will not personally affect Shrub so don't hold your ...

breath for the Govt. to really give a rats ass.

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Oh I won't. I might turn blue.

:evilgrin:

[roguevalley]

72. Go, Teamsters! RV-former teamster etc.

[CANDO]

113. You won't see the Teamsters involved with this

We work under a contract. You won't see any non-union truck load drivers involved either. They don't pay for their fuel. The only ones who may get involved in this would be the owner-operators, and they might represent only up to 3 to 5 percent of the nation's trucks.

[Ikonoklast]

115. O/O are just a tad less than 10%

Teamsters less than 8% of all total drivers.

[CANDO]

126. Thank you for further clarification

My statement still stands. It will only potentialy be up to the 10% O/O who would be willing to shut down. I'd bet they don't even get 1% to shut down for two weeks. Teamsters and company drivers simply don't pay for the fuel, so there is no incentive to do a work stoppage. And union contracts forbid stiking over anything beyond the terms set forth in the contract.

[Leopolds Ghost]

131. "union contracts forbid stiking over anything beyond the terms set forth in the contract."

Which is why unions never get anything new. And continually lose what they gained in 50 years when striking was non-sanctioned and non-regulated into ineffectivity.

[CANDO]

147. I here what you are saying

We gained back the right to strike over deadlocked grievances in our last contract and it still stands in our new one. This is the Teamsters National Master Freight Agreement I'm referring to. My statement regarding striking when not provided for in a contract means if you'd take part in something such as this national shut down over fuel prices, it would not be a legal action. It's something beyond the scope of our freight agreement, and therefore would not be a legal job action and we would be liable for all economic damages. Not going to happen.

[Supersedeas]

145. building superhwys of the Americas to bypass the working class

[margotb822]

2. Wow, that would be an awesome show of power

If all the workers stopped in protest, the powerful might actually learn that they are still hostage to the workers. If we don't work, they can't make their money!

[havocmom]

32. If all workers stopped, the powerful would have tall grass and no supper

Most of their money is now made somewhere else, but they would be inconvenienced with having to do the laundry and get their own meals. It might be fun for them to have to go to the grocery store themselves though; quite an education.

[asdjrocky]

55. See the play-

Day of Absence. Boy that would be fun.

[havocmom]

64. Sadly, I live where that would not be possible.

Guess I best get it and read!

It has long been a dream of mine that ALL workers in the US would stay home... for at least a week. Sadly, it was not economically possible for too many people way back then, and much less so now. :cry:

[Lars39]

3. I hope they strike.

We'd be fools not to join them.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. I hope they do too! How very "French" of them!

:evilgrin:

[guitar man]

5. it would be a shock to the system

...if they actually did it. Maybe, just maybe, depleted store shelves across the country might start waking people up to how far down the hole we've gone.Unfortunately, it seems a majority of people in this country will only pay attention when something directly and adversely affects them personally. Bare shelves at the supermarket just might be a start....

[magellan]

33. I'm afraid they'd just blame the truckers

...the same way they're blaming war protesters today in DC for the "inconvenience" to their commute.

But I support the truckers if they do this. Pretty soon no one will be able to afford food, much less miss it when it fails to turn up on grocery store shelves.

[guitar man]

46. you're probably right

people have become so ignorant in this country it's a damn shame. I don't know if it's still true now, but refrigerated truck operators were always the ones who operated on the slimmest of margins to begin with and it was damn tough to make a living hauling produce, swinging beef and ice packed chickens even when fuel was at it's cheapest. I can't imagine what the poor owner-ops trying to keep a truck and a Thermo-King are going through now.

It's damn tough work they do, but the general public is ignorant of that fact.The vast majority will probably just whine because they aren't being served, no matter how much the individuals serving them have to suffer.

[StarryNite]

93. You're right about the ignorance.

But a big part of the reason why is because of the bullshit that is fed to us on a daily basis by the media.

[Lugnut]

120. You bet it's tough

And it's getting tougher every day. My son is an independent O/O who hauls produce and frozen food. He attended a meeting at the state capitol on Saturday and told me there's a good chance they'll be able to pull this off.

Within 24 to 48 hours it would wake up a lot of very clueless people who take what the truckers do for granted. It will hurt the truckers to park their rigs for a few days but they're already hurting.

[Quantess]

97. The MSM will lead the outcry of blame against the truckers.

Talking heads, pundits, will turn the nation against truck drivers.

[magellan]

111. That's my fear too.

The Repubs have done a great job over the last several decades of demonizing anything that smacks of socialism, including worker strikes and organized protests. Most Americans have no idea how self-destructive their imbibed contempt of these things is.

Should the truckers go out of business? What then? Replace them all with big freight corporations that charge what they like because there's no competition (and underpay their employees), then whine about how expensive food is as a result?

People don't think.

[tachyon]

6. I can understand how pissed they are but that wouldn't do any good.

Fuel prices aren't coming down. Ever.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Well somewhere and sometime, we have to take a stand. If not now, when?

:shrug:

[sergeiAK]

15. Taking a stand against economic reality

Is futile, likely to get you fired, and generally stupid.

Don't like high fuel prices? Get better mileage. Use other fuels. Use other forms of transport. Build a new refinery, drill for more oil. Fund alternative energy research. Do something that might work.

[guitar man]

25. getting fired

getting fired doesn't really apply for most of these guys since they are owner-operators. what has happened is that fuel prices have skyrocketed while rates haven't, leaving the operators hauling for little or nothing. If fuel prices don't come down, then rates must go up. I doubt the drivers would care either way as long as they can get back to actually making a living.

[sergeiAK]

49. So charge more

That's what other industries do when costs rise. Why not do it here? Econ 101.

[guitar man]

59. the problem is

they don't control the rates, the brokers do. Or at least they did, my firsthand knowledge is about 20 years dated, but I'm assuming owner ops still get their loads through brokerages. It's not as simple as just saying "I'm raising my rates to $xx a mile".

[sergeiAK]

62. Then someone is willing to do the same job for less

So the O/O goes out of business. Obviously someone's making money doing it. This is how markets work. The highest paying buyer is linked to the lowest charging seller until we hit two that won't compromise. If O/Os stop taking loads that don't pay enough, the rates will go up. If they take what they can get, rates stay the same.

They set rates indirectly, by deciding what's worth their time hauling.

[Ikonoklast]

112. Wrong. Rates are set by freight brokers, and shippers

I can refuse to haul for crap rates, but I cannot set rates as they are controlled by freight brokers, and right now there is a race to the bottom by brokers trying to get shippers to give them their business. The only way they can do that is by cutting the rate they are willing to charge the shipper, knocking other brokers out of the picture, then desperately try to find someone willing to haul the freight for the cheaper rates.

The rate they quoted the shipper seldom gets changed, unless you're dealing with a time-sensitive or perishable item.

Rates now are cheaper than they were last year at this time, when fuel was half as expensive. Using the national average, it costs $0.73 a mile just for fuel. Forget taxes, tolls, drivers wages, truck and trailer payments, etc.

Those that are willing to run for dirt cheap prices are doing it by not running legally, and skimping on maintenance. One will get you shut down for being over on hours, the other will kill people.

The big trucking companies are giving discounts to shippers in a big way right now, hoping that when things turn around they can garner new customers. They are also hoping that the independents all go away, then they can set any rate they feel they can get away with.

They have deep pockets and lines of credit worth millions. They can run at a loss for a long time.

I can't.

I sat home for three weeks in February when freight was dismal. I'm sitting home now, with plenty of freight on the load boards, but the brokers are all quoting the same crap rates.

But, that isn't collusion, according to the government.

If trucking firms set rates the same way, they get sued for anti-trust rate manipulation.

The markets are rigged against the truckers, with the government refusing to regulate freight brokers in any way.

They can do anything they want, with impunity.

[Canuckistanian]

117. Why, exactly, do we need brokers?

Why don't the O/O's set up their own organization to sell their services to customers?

Seems to me this set-up is like health care in the US. Too many useless middlemen "providers" who don't add any value, but suck up all the profits.

[Ikonoklast]

118. Everyone used to have a shipping employee on the premises

But it was cheaper and easier to abdicate that authority to outside brokers. You don't have to pay someone to find trucks, argue rates, mess with paperwork, pay the carriers, etc., let alone no health care or pension to worry about for an employee.

O/O's are restrained by the Federal Government from setting rates. If we did, it would be considered restraint of trade, and dealt with under the rules of deregulation. That's why OOIDA will never be anything more than a trade association.

Freight brokers, however, are hardly regulated. They are now killing off the goose (me) that has been laying the golden egg for them, for all these years. No O/O's, no need for freight brokers.

Many brokers are on the ropes right now, as they are cutting their own throats in a race to the bottom, quoting losing rates to the shippers.

We subscribe to a credit-rating service that lets us know just how solvent a brokerage is. It's getting ugly. Every day, another one bites the dust owing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid freight bills to truckers.

The big guys (think J.B. Hunt, Werner, Schneider, Swift, etc.) do all their stuff in-house; that is, they are an asset-based carrier (they own and operate their own fleet of trucks/trailers) with their own brokerage division.

They don't need outside brokers.

They dream of the day when all freight moves on their trucks. They will be able to dictate rates.

And they won't be cheap.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

134. everything you say is true.

I'm a former dispatcher/broker/shipper and I stayed at a Holiday in last night.

[Hannah Bell]

127. Which is the point, - to drive out independents. n/t

[DLnyc]

122. This is how markets would work, if there were no monopolies, cartels, big

corporations that manipulate government to get favorable regulations, over-sized groups that can squeeze (and regulate) competitors out of business and then raise prices, goons who will beat up those who pay more, . . .

[Strelnikov_]

87. Actually Econ 102

Econ 101 was Macroeconomics

[Contrary1]

51. And how much less would Mexican truck drivers be willing to take home?

Think about that. Maybe the plan is working just as expected.

[havocmom]

52. The 'economic realities' are putting a lot of independents out of business

and that's all part of the plan.

There won't be any self employed people soon. No family farms in a few years. Not much in the way of small businesses, either, as the new economic realities hit their customers hard, therefore hitting them too.

The world is being taken over by a handful of people in a few boardrooms, and the people who employ them.

Independent and self sufficient are two species that are going extinct pretty damned soon. The lords in the manners must have total control of resources to keep us peasants from getting together and kicking their asses into the mud.

[A HERETIC I AM]

63. I'm sorry, but you're wrong

getting fired doesn't really apply for most of these guys since they are owner-operators

"most of these guys"? You think most truckers in this country own and operate their own trucks?

Wrong.

OO's make up less than 15% of the long haul truck operations in the US and the largest national organization of Owner Operators, the "Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association" only has 160,000 members.

And just for the record, most aren't Unionized either. Most work for fleets and are paid by the mile.

[guitar man]

65. wow

I didn't realize that the O/O's had become such a small part of the overall industry these days.And you're right about "herding cats" as far as a "wildcat" strike goes, I've never seen successful one.

[windbreeze]

96. Too bad everyone belonging to a union couldn't sympathize...

and strike too...that is what it will take to have an effect....should have been done back in "83"...when Reagan took on the air controllers...wb

[Viva_La_Revolution]

136. Got a link to the short-haul numbers? nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. Their "economic reality" sucks which is why they are taking a stand.

And big oil won't build new refineries and big auto fights higher fuel standards and don't get me started on the current maladministration policy on alternative fuel research. They are doing what they think will work, now.

[sergeiAK]

47. It won't work.

The trucking companies will hire someone else.

If you don't like oil companies not building refineries, build one. It's their money, they get to (not) spend it as they see fit. The free market means that you can compete if you are willing to try. Write a business case, take it to a VC firm, and get some funding. Hire some engineers, hire a manager, build the damn thing.

If you want higher fuel economy, start an auto company. If you could deliver a decently fun to drive car that got 50+mpg for <$30k, I'd be the first in line to buy. I'd prefer electric, but battery tech just isn't quite there yet.

Don't like Bush? Good. Vote the Rs out of office. We have the power. Let's use it.

[tachyon]

61. Just building refineries won't solve the problem. There is plenty of refining capacity

well, there's very little EXTRA but there's quite enough to take care of the supply (incoming crude) and the demand (outgoing products.)

You can bet Exxon would be willing to build them if they didn't understand it won't be long before there won't be anything left to stuff into the "in" pipes.

[conscious evolution]

70. Just reopen the hundred or so they shut down

over the last twenty or so years.
Oh wait.Doing that might drive up the supply and lower the price of fuel for everyone.Can't be having that or the oil companies profits might drop into the billions instead of the tens of billions they are gouging us for now.
Let the truckers strike.They have my support.

[sergeiAK]

74. None of those are compliant with environmental regs

They were too dirty to run now, and it would cost a fair bit to retrofit and reactivate.

Why not see if they'll sell you one of those shut down refineries? I bet they'd let them go cheap. :P

[tachyon]

80. Also the NIMBY phenomenon.

That's a big part of it too.

[conscious evolution]

81. Some may have been.

But most were shut to reduce supply.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Group_Internal_memos_show_oil_companies_limited_refineries_to_drive_up__0907.html

From a Raw Story article.

The three internal memos from Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco (Click here to read the memos.) show different ways the oil giants closed down refining capacity and drove independent refiners out of business. The confidential memos demonstrate a nationwide effort by American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying and research arm of the oil industry, to encourage the major refiners to close their refineries in the mid-1990s in order to raise the price at the pump.

It was all about the profit.

[sergeiAK]

85. So hit them up with anti-trust law. -nt

[frylock]

94. your just full of solutions, aren't you?

maybe just full of something.

[sergeiAK]

95. It's been done to IBM, MSFT, and Standard Oil

Why not use what works?

And can the personal attacks. They don't make your non-point any better.

[Hannah Bell]

128. Enron revisited. I remember how so many toed the party line

then, too. "It's supply & demand! We don't have enough generating capacity!"

Fools & tools.

[Hannah Bell]

130. False. Nothing to do with the regs. n/t

[sergeiAK]

142. Prove it -nt

[tachyon]

75. What are they going to use for raw material, peanut butter?

:eyes:

[truedelphi]

86. The problem is that we import oil these days

Every time that we bail out the banks - which happened last year to the tune of 500 billion dollars, we deflate the dollar.

The dollar is traded into Euros, before the oil we need can be imported. (Currently a single Euro is worth $ 1.57 dollars. SO the Europeans are paying one Euro for what we need to cough up 50% more for.)

And there is the rub. This economic crisis is NOT ABOUT refining capacity. It is about paying for Saudi Arbian oil using deflated dollars. So what we as consumers are going to see is a sharp rise in the cost of OIL.

The more we bail out the banks (The government just gave the bankers another 200 billion dollars to play with earlier this week) every time those measures occur, the dollar is weaker, and oil prices rise.

Has not a thing to do with refining capacity right now.

[northzax]

99. your numbers are wrong. sorry

gasoline supplies in the US are at ten year highs. and demand is actually going down from this time last year. there is plenty of gasoline out there, it's just really expensive.

[Leopolds Ghost]

132. Because there is less of it in the world. How hard is it for Americans to understand?

[northzax]

140. there isn't less, yet

there are just more people who want the same amount. But there will be less eventually, and even more people wanting a piece of that shrinking supply

[SammyWinstonJack]

66. Are you kidding? No really, are you? Oh and I don't like bush and never voted for him. Why don't

you build a refinery or start an auto company, all on your own. :silly:

Take on the big oil and auto companies on your own, I dare you.

You make it sound so simple, do it!

It's their money that they get by gouging us at the pump and then see fit how to spend it, or not, is that right?

Free enterprise, dude! :eyes: No matter the cost to us serfs! Got it!

[sergeiAK]

73. You make them sound invincible

Yet, somehow they've been brought down before. Ford is nearly bankrupt, Chrysler effectively is. To compete, you need a better idea. You don't have one, so you can't compete. I don't either, which is why I'm sticking to embedded electronics. Do you have any business education or experience?

Building a refinery is obviously an outlandish example, but, for a more realistic one, Tesla Motors was a pipe dream 10 years ago. Now it's a fledgling electric car company. They're a boutique company, but they had a good idea and great execution.

[Lorien]

77. It all comes down to the Petro dollar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF3wZL4BZvY

[Lorien]

76. The battery tech excuse is just more GOP propaganda

This car costs under 30k and gets 300 mpg: www.aptera.com

And yes, they'll be developing sedans and vans as well. The Prius gets up to 50mpg NOW and costs around 22k. Ask any Prius owner and they'll tell you that the battery controversy is total bullshit.

[sergeiAK]

89. And it isn't in production

I was speaking for electric cars, ie the Tesla. Li-Fe Polymer batteries are nice, but too expensive. Yes, there is a valid concern to batteries, namely energy storage, density, and power.

What is the battery controversy on the Prius? I'm not familiar with that.

Also, the Prius only gets 50mpg. So does the old Golf TDI, which actually has enough HP to get out of its own way. And doesn't look like a half-melted Martian spacecraft.

[Two Americas]

91. give up...

it won't work...you can do nothing...nothing can change...this is just the reality....nothing you do will have an impact...

It's the free market. Hey! Can't sell yourself at a good price? Then go do something else. The market is never wrong. If you aren't clever enough to figure this out, you lose. Striking and organizing won't do any good, because the market rules. This is the law of nature, the way things are.

Get yourself a fun to drive car that gets good mileage. Start making the "right choices" dammit, people, and quit yer whining!

Build your own damned refinery! What the Hell's the matter with you?

You can make it if you try! Buncha lazy people out there who aren't even trying. Wheee! We can all be oil magnates. Ain't America great?

[Occulus]

68. All of which are very viable options for today's truckers

:eyes: :sarcasm:

[truedelphi]

82. Pls consider stopping and thinking abt this.

When a middle income person makes a mistake in their banking matters, they get fined by Not sufficient check charges.

A 99cent mistake can cost you $ 33.

But the bankers who created this economic mess will not only get monies to bail the banks out of this problem, but they will reward themselve swith "Golden Parachutes" worth extreme amounts of money. (For instance recently, the SEC chairman retired, and offered himself as much money as a going away bonus as the SEC has as its yearly profits.)

Also as we bail them out, the process entails devaluing the dollar. Which would not be so bad, except that since we have to buy oil from countries other than our own, we are going to see an exponential rise in the price of oil.

Which hurts the little guy much more than those at the top.

[northzax]

100. remember the old adage

if I owe you $100 it's my problem. if I owe you $1,000,000 it's your problem.

[truedelphi]

106. I had never heard that one. But I'm sure it's about

to become a remark that is used day in and day out.

And already the M$M talking heads are saying that this is consumer amerika's problem - we should have all saved a bunch more! Never mind that it is our pension funds that will be raided as the system goes down.

[northzax]

114. well, in a manner of speaking, they're right

we're the ones who took on mortgages we couldn't afford, we're the ones who spent ourselves into a hole (obviously not those people who got hammered by things like medical expenses, but if you are carrying a balance on your macy's card, you get a share) we are the ones who collectively have been living above our means for a generation. Obviously, there are other factors, but a large chunk of the blame does fall on the people who saw success as having bigger houses, cars, TVs and wardrobes than their parents.

[conscious evolution]

119. or this one

The person who takes out a hundred thou loan is owned by the bank.The guy who takes out a hundred million dollar loan owns the bank.

[truedelphi]

148. I like that. n/t

[LanternWaste]

144. One man's economic reality is another man's mere opinion...

One man's economic reality is another man's mere opinion. Too many times in the past, I've witnessed good men and women take a stand against perceived economic and social realities. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost.

If "reality" is unjust, the it can be replaced, and although that is a sometimes painful event, many people like Sam Gompers & MacGuire and the Haymarket Riots fighting economic realities, or Rosa Parks fighting social realties realized we cannot in good conscious stand idly by in some cases.

However, I have little doubt than many people told them in so many words, "Is futile, likely to get you fired, and generally stupid."

[tachyon]

A stand? Fine but how will that create more oil? The rest of the world

thinks we're paying way too little for fuel. I just don't see how a strike could actually accomplish a reduction in price.
If you can envision some mechanism that would do that, I'm all ears...
:shrug:

[Subdivisions]

12. They are VERY frustrated with one saying that while they are

away their wives can't go shopping as much, their diet has changed, they can't put any money in savings, they can't afford to put money away for their kids' college or make tuition payments, many are in foreclosure, and on and on...

We are living in a completely disasterous civilization the WILL NOT be maintained.

[guitar man]

17. you're right

fuel prices aren't going down, so the point of this stoppage will be that trucking rates will have to go up, or it won't be worth driving one. Get ready, because when trucking rates go up, what we are going to be paying at the store is going to become ridiculous :(

[havocmom]

38. Does diesel take more or less refining than gasoline? Diesel prices here have been MUCH higher

for a several years now. I thought diesel was less refinery work. Never made sense, except it was good cover for the inflation. Sure fuel costs make food prices go up, but food seems to really be going through the roof.

Things common people need to spend the most of their incomes on seems to be rising much faster than the price of toys for the rich and famous. They have our bellies hostage.

[tachyon]

58. Less refined but taxed more.

basically

[sergeiAK]

60. It takes less refining, but with new environmental regs

Specifying Ultra-low Sulfur Diesel, the refineries have to be retrofitted, which has driven cost higher. They should come down eventually, but with inflation the way it is, I wouldn't count on it.

[Juche]

7. I assumed as much

I remember a few months ago when oil was around $90/barrel there was an interview with a trucker who said his take home pay used to be around 50-60k a year but with oil at 90/barrel it was around 11k a year since the rest went to fuel. The guy is probably living off nothing at this point with oil at 105/barrel.

Good for them.

[NightWatcher]

11. a few truckers have already parked their rigs near the Savannah port

they simply cannot afford to pay for gas and work. It is not worth getting up in the morning for them. A lot of owner/operators are feeling similar crunches. Watch this lead to a lot more work going to national carriers and/or outsiders like mexican truckers.

[CRF450]

116. Right, like a mexican can do the work for cheaper pay.

This isn't a construction/landscaping job.

Sheesh:eyes:

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. It won't happen in a large enough degree to affect anything.

Primarily because expecting the entire truck driver workforce to do ANYTHING as a group is akin to herding cats.

These sorts of strikes have been called for dozens of times over the years and they have never happened. The majority of long haul truckers in this country are not unionized, work for a company (as opposed to being "Owner/Operators") and most are paid by the mile. They're struggling as it is. Parking a company truck is not something most are willing to do. Owner Operators represent too small of a group to have any effect either.

Several truckers sitting in a restaurant in Georgia might be expressing a common concern, but they can in no way speak for the majority. Plus, those guys might talk a good line but I'm willing to bet half of those sitting at that table wouldn't park their rigs if push came to shove.

[Subdivisions]

21. There were five truckers present and the owner of the truck

stop there who said that the sentiment was national in scale. Lest you've forgotten a novelty hit from the 70s call "Convoy" and the CB radio craze, these guys know how to communicate and talk to each other every single day. Don't for one second think they can't mount a protest. They are feeling the pain and they are pissed. See my post #12.

[A HERETIC I AM]

44. Pal, I drove over-the road for twenty bloody years. I know the business, ok?

I have dealt with truck drivers of all stripes for a very long time and I'm telling you, this is not going to happen on a large enough scale to be noticed.

As I said in my post, they are expressing a sentiment that is widely held but there is no national organization to the truck drivers in this country. The talk will go on, it will get heated and animated but the likelihood of a major, National shutdown is minuscule.


Regarding the movie "Convoy" - it has been seen by truckers as a joke for decades. The over usage of the expression "Good Buddy" in that movie and it's subsequent over usage by the general public has given it a derogatory and pejorative connotation in the industry. Call a truck driver a "Good Buddy" face to face and you're likely to get smacked. Plus, the idea that the CB Radio is somehow this nationwide communication system is ridiculous. If a driver tried to pass a message down the road further than his radio transmits - about 10 miles on average - he has ZERO expectation that the message will be delivered by other drivers, further on down the line. That concept espoused in the movie you mentioned is poppycock and has no basis in reality. There might be similar conversations going on at the same time around the country, but there is abosolutely no national dialogue between truckers on ANYTHING.

"Convoy" did not accurately reflect truckers and trucking any more than "Knight Rider" reflected secret Government programs.

[Subdivisions]

71. OK! OK! OK! Jesus Christ! Was it absolutely necessary to excoriate

me for a bit of naïveté? Sheesh! Couldn't have corrected my faux pas by simply and gently educating me?

Why are you so rude about something you see as an non-starter?

Now, I'm going togo find some salve to put on my newly-ripped asshole.

[A HERETIC I AM]

103. My apologies. I regret the tone my post conveyed.

And you are correct, I could have worded it better.

I don't mean to be rude by any means, it is just that I have over two decades experience in the trucking industry and the amount of misinformation and misunderstanding, both on DU and in the general populace, about the business, how things move, what moves by truck, who does it, how rates are set, etc., is rather dramatic.

I am sorry my response was worded in a way that was offensive or curt.

[Subdivisions]

107. Apology accepted and appreciated. n/t

[Contrary1]

24. I'm thinking it will be large enough...

I have heard from two different people that have relatives who drive trucks say the same thing.

I'm in Indiana.

[avenger64]

16. They're the ones using the damned oil ....

... they use hundreds of gallons a haul. It's demand that's driving up the price (that and the weakness of the dollar), so they're protesting against something that they're contributing to. Absurd.

[democrank]

18. Many folks are at the Enough-Is-Enough point.

Read on DU today that some longshoremen are considering a stike against the war.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3032114

[nels25]

19. I think this was done before in the 70's

I do not remember how effective it was (I was USN active duty at the time) as I was unable to keep up with the news as well as I would have liked back then.

:eyes:

[SteelPenguin]

20. Why not raise their rates?

Here's the part of this I don't get. Why don't the truckers just start charging more? Where are the teamsters on this? What am I missing?

[Winterblues]

42. They are mostly independent drivers that drive other people's rigs

They don't get to establish the rates. Drivers are lined up and if one doesn't want to make the haul another will step up in a heartbeat.. Until it actually begins to cost them money it will continue..

[eShirl]

22. k&r

[Subdivisions]

23. Kicking for a heads up, conversation to continue on CNN coming up. n/t

[eShirl]

28. thread about it on a truckers' forum

"Trucker's Protest First Week in April"
http://roundtable.truck.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73519

edit: this was supposed to be a reply to the original post

[tachyon]

34. Those guys are "Democrats for McCain"????????????

:eyes: :wtf:

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

26. nothing against truckers but:

1) Maybe this will inspire people to look seriously at rail! Trucks should be *only* short hauls rail is far more efficient and uses less fuel per pound. Other than ship there is no more effective way to move large amounts of freight.

2) This move would be more of a condemnation of trucking companies than fuel prices. frankly if their compensation has not went up with fuel cost thats who we should be pissed at..

[Mountainman]

29. Don't look now but that train passing you is carrying hundreds of trailers.

Stack trains, pig trains, double stacks ect.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

43. I know rail get some use in the US

but not enough. Too many things go right onto a truck and then are hauled hundreds upon hundreds of miles. a large port city like LA should be a far larger rail center than it is..

http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2005/bts003_05/html/bts003_05.html

The revised numbers from BTS' Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) show that trucks moved more than $6.2 trillion and 7.8 billion tons of manufactured goods and raw materials in 2002 (Table 2).

Rail was the second most used mode by weight, carrying 1.9 billion tons of freight for a 16 percent share but only $310 billion or 4 percent of goods by value (Tables 4&5).

[trof]

57. Barge traffic appears to be up on intracoastal.

Just personal observation, but I'm seeing a lot more laden barges than I used to.

[guitar man]

88. rail is great for a lot of stuff

but for the really time sensitive cargo that needs to be expedited, it's just too slow of a process. I imagine there will always be a need for direct ship trucking because of this. By the time the trucks get from the pickup point to the train yard, either transfer the load or piggyback, get the train hooked up and finally off to its destination and reverse the procedure at the other end, it's just too time consuming when something has to be shipped double quick. The railroads will never touch trucks in that market.

[Leopolds Ghost]

135. Wrong -- it's only slow because our rail infrastructure is terrible.

Ever tried to find a direct rail route between cities? We are saddled
with a 19th century rail system. The only 20th century portion is the
Northeast Corridor Pennsy system run bu Amtrak. There is NOTHING ELSE.

[donheld]

139. You are so right on that

Rail is a brilliant idea really, but we just don't have the rail capacity to do it. We have a very antiquated rail infrastructure, and it's always last priority to get any improvements done.

[Mountainman]

27. Can they afford to not work for 2 weeks? I doubt it.

[eShirl]

41. the ones who can't afford to stop driving will slow down to 45 mph

according to the thread on truck.net
http://roundtable.truck.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73519

[Subdivisions]

50. They're saying they are broke anyway. The only thing they have is

CLOUT!

.

[Ganja Ninja]

30. Do it!

How long has it been since we've seen a real confrontation between labor and the corporate government? We're way overdue.

[hootinholler]

84. That would be the ATC strike.

RayGun took care of that situation.

-Hoot

[trof]

31. Just a matter of time. Also...

Y'all might as well get used to not having strawberries in January any more.
I bet it won't be long till we're all eating 'seasonal' local produce.
Better plant your 'truck gardens'.

[Winterblues]

35. Now if they had done this way back when we wouldn't be in this situation

The Bush* Cabal would have been forced out and America would have gone on to prosper. They have all the clout in the world, if only they would use it..

[Subdivisions]

45. They could literally cause this country to grind to a halt.

Go Truckers! You have my support!

[trof]

37. Sanchez looks a lot like the fake news guy on The Daily Show.

[JoDog]

39. There was a strike

of owner/operators in 1974. I don't know what good it did.

There are some whispers on websites and forums that a work stoppage may be happening on March 24 or in early April.

Here's a blog with a conversation on the topic:

http://truckdriversindustry.blogspot.com/2008/03/will-truckers-strike-work.html

On yahoo answers, one truckers says there may never be a true strike, because there are too many people willing to do the job for even less.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080317065154AAzTokq

The problem with diesel is that in other nations, it is the preferred fuel for passenger cars. So while it costs the same or less to refine as gasoline, the demand for it on a global scale is much higher. Thus forcing the prices ever higher.



Jodog, daughter of a trucker.

[trof]

40. Woo Hoo! Trucker SLAMMING Bush**.

"Doesn't know price of gas. Out of touch."
GO GUY!

[truedelphi]

83. Wouldn't it be GREAT if the truckers

Drove their rigs to the incoming/outgoing highways surrounding DC and blockaded DC!!

[northzax]

101. um, not really

maybe they can do it to your city instead? we're a little sick of the rest of the country imposing its will on us, thank you very much.

[Leopolds Ghost]

137. You think any other city will feel differently? How much disruption are you prepared to accept

in your life to confront the current system?

[northzax]

141. The system of supply and demand?

let's try it. Next time, let's shut down another city. If I have to be late to work because someone is blocking traffic, at least make it a protest over something changeable. We already have a house of reps we can't vote for, a senate we can't vote for and a supreme court we have no say in running our lives, how about not having the rest of the country fucking with us on a regular basis? You want to protest against the war? Great, come on down. You want to protest for the war? Great, bad decision, but go right ahead. You want to protest against the law of supply and demand? Go bother someone else. What's next? The march against gravity?

[laylah]

48. Off to the Greatest with ya! k&r

[Subdivisions]

54. Thank you and thanks to all for your recs! n/t

[asdjrocky]

53. K&R! Go labor!

[The2ndWheel]

56. Cheap energy doesn't exist

Protesting what? Geology? The rest of the world outside of the West starting to consume massive amounts of energy? Globalization?

[ClayZ]

67. Yay Truckers! K and R

:kick:

[myrna minx]

69. And the West Coast Longshoremen will have May Day

protest of the Iraq War. I'm so excited to see the power of labor rising again.

[Strelnikov_]

78. When fuel shortages start to hit later this year

They will be parked again.

[LostinVA]

79. Good -- I paid $3.99 for diesel on Monday (VW Golf)

It went up 70 cents in a week. I was paying $2.25 a gallon in November.

Diesel is CHEAPER to make than gasoline.

[Uncle Joe]

90. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Texas Explorer.

[ThomWV]

92. Kick!

[Squatch]

98. GOOD!!! Maybe we'll start using freight rail more instead!

Transportation mode Fuel consumption (BTUs per ton mile)
Heavy Trucks 3,357
Class 1 Railroads 341
Air freight 9,600 (aprox)
Domestic Waterbourne 510

[Mike03]

102. I'll be listening to Midnight Trucker Radio tonight for sure.

This has been a long time coming.

I can't wait to listen to the two hapless right wing bozos who host that syndicated radio program continue to try to make excuses for the petroleum company profits and the price of gas while simultaneously trying to appeal to their audience of truckdrivs! Should be a hoot.

[Ikonoklast]

121. Those two morons make me vomit

They are corporate shills for the ATA, and everything they blabber about is diametrically opposed to free enterprise and the small businessman. They support their sponsors, the big carriers, and say what they are told to say.

Two right-wing asshats that think the only reason diesel is expensive is because we won't drill in Alaska.

And the Democratic Congress.

And Bush is God, war is good.

They are vile.

[libnnc]

104. I don't know how they've managed to stay on the road

as long as they have thus far. How can they NOT strike?

[RamboLiberal]

105. I hope they do it - just hope they don't have violence

I think a lot of us getting screwed over on rising gasoline and other rising prices will have a lot of sympathy with them.

Just don't go to the violence that happened in 70's during trucker's strike!

[high density]

108. So what do they want done about it?

Oil is a commodity and it is being speculated to the moon. With the dumbasses we've got running this country I simply do not see our energy policy changing until there is new management next year.

[Leopolds Ghost]

138. Sorry, we are running OUT of oil startiong round 2002-2004. Live with it.

Talk to a petroleum geologist.

[Political Heretic]

109. K&R this is a big deal, and you can bet your ass the fed. goverment will have something to say

I'm with truckers - always, always, always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K&R

[fascisthunter]

110. GOOD FOR THEM

I say we shut the whole frickin' country down until the occupation is ended and Bush is impeached. But hey, that's me.

[DAMANgoldberg]

123. ex-Trucker

Not by my choice, the choice of my "Fake Christian" TN-based trucking company with a White and Blue color scheme.

Most truckers are company truckers (Covenant, USXpress, Swift, Werner, JBHunt, et cetera) and cannot afford to park their trucks, there is many bodies to come behind them, especially at the companies mentioned above.

The sordid truth about trucking is that they are dominated by the Insurance industry, and they have rigid guidelines about shipping rates and other terms in the business. The RW is getting what they wanted, the elimination of independent truckers and small outfits, even going with large companies with shady maintenance records, poor on-time performance, and discriminatory practices. All of this because they will ship for low rates.

With all of that said, the business is such that if you own the trucks and do it right and legal, there is money to be made hand over fist.

[XOKCowboy]

125. I've always wondered about Covenant Trucking..

"It's not a choice, it's a life" or some such shit on their trailers. I always wondered if they only hired bible-thumper drivers. I should have known they'd take whoever would work cheapest.

[proud patriot]

124. Can't say that I blame them

The Burden of the bush economy weighs heavily on them

[DesertRat]

129. kick. n/t

[better tomorrow]

133. not sure how true but on another forum I heard April 3.....

[Texas Hill Country]

143. my father in-law owns a small trucking company... will have to ask him about this one.

[callous taoboy]

146. I wish teachers would do the same to protest NCLB. n/t