I Just Saw Today's Diesel Prices - Folks This Could Be Serious

[ThomWV]

I use the same self-serve chain convenience store price for comparison. Its one of those discount places and generally has the best price in town. The price of Diesel this afternoon was $0.94 higher than regular gas ($3.29 vs $4.25). Independent truck drivers can not survive these prices. Without those trucks and their greatly underappreciated drivers this country folds, in days.

[Mika]

1. Victory gardens for survival soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

-

[thereismore]

11. I already started mine. nt

[bobbolink]

22. at least muddleclass people will survive

us poor folk can eat cake.

[earth mom]

29. Most of us are one step from being homeless too-it is widespread across the U.S. nt

[villager]

2. not to inveigh against hard workin' truck drivers working to support families, but...

...we really need to switch all this shipping back to rails, actually.

Much better for the environment, energy gird, etc., in terms of "joules" used for moving goods...

Of course, we'll still need trucks in the interim, during the switchover, eh?

[ThomWV]

4. I do not disagree, however today is today

Barge when you can, rail when you can't, and trucks for the short haul. Aircraft don't figure in there anywhere as far as I'm concerned. Most important, communications must replace transportation wherever possible.

[wildbilln864]

12. and fuel those trucks with bio-diesel.

Why can't they do that? Used veggie oil. Rudolph Diesel's engine ran on peanut oil IMSMC. :grr:

[villager]

14. I agree with that whole blueprint, TWV!

;-)

[defendandprotect]

5. Right --- !!! Rail not trucks. But we also need more local farming ---

and our Governors and towns should be pushed on those issues ---

Peaches from Chile in March? No . . .

[villager]

16. Indeed, d.a.p.!

:thumbsup:

[defendandprotect]

17. But we certainly need ELECTRIC CARS and ELECTRIC TRUCKS .... !!!!

See: "Who Killed The Electric Car?" . . .

it's probably at your library . .

[ThomWV]

21. I agree with that but I always ask myself, what will be the power source?

If its coal, as is likely if you were to charge up today, then nothing is gained. Most renewable schemes are just that, schemes. Wind makes sense of course. Hydro always leads to mud flats, always. That shouldn't discourage its use though, just something to consider.

[defendandprotect]

23. Batteries . . . rechargeable . . .

which should mean, IMO, that you can have local generators --- wind/solar ---

NO coal, certainly!!!

No hydro --

PLEASE . . . SEE THE MOVIE . . . THERE IS A LOT EXPLAINED THERE . . .
DON'T MISS IT ---
AND IF YOU SEE IT, PASS IT ALONG AND PASS THE INFO ALONG ---
THANKS

[ruiner4u]

19. Great Idea....But.

The rail lines have been so neglected over the decades from their former heydey.


To help put this in perspective: Every rail post you see under the tracks has to be MANUALLY placed. The wood post is very durable, however the gravel must be dug out, the post taken out, the new one inserted, the gravel replaced to insure level grade, and then manually hammered in place. At best, 1 hour of work. And that goes on every few feet.

Heavily used rail lines are heavily maintained. Semi used lines dont need as much attention.. And the obscure lines once used frequently can go a long time without maintenance.


Your suggestion of using rail vs. truck is great, but it would greatly increase traffic on semi-used lines and obscure lines that would not be able to handle the increased traffic.

The net result, derailments and tragedy.

Our once national treasure known as the railway investiture has been bled dry over the decades and will cost billions to restore in order to help decrease our use of oil..

Sad....but true

[villager]

20. good points, and such infrastructure work will be part of the next "green economy"

once we have an actual "government" in this country again....

[ThomWV]

26. Thank you. It is good to have that information. It better informs our opinion

And that is a might good thing.

I wonder what the cost of rail bed repair is in comparison to repair of an equally dilapidated section of interstate roadway? It would vary all over the place, I'm sure of that. Still, some useful comparison might be nice to have to further inform us. Transportation will be a serious part of this country's future, and I'm not referring to people visiting places either. I mean the transportation of resource and product.

[RB TexLa]

27. Ever hear of the Teamster PAC? Probably over $5M spent this year. It's never going to happen.

[defendandprotect]

3. Here in NJ we got a bit of a break for the holiday on food and gas . . . at $2.97

at a number of stations yesterday --- Enright, Wawa, Delta, Citco --
Exxon, of course, as always was the highest --- up to $3.09

Food prices were lower -- I think purposefully for the holiday ---

[ThomWV]

6. What Gods does one appease in order to get such prices, are virgins required?

[PM7nj]

13. Become the "armpit of America"

We have huge refineries all over the state, I can see the smoke stacks of 2 from my window :/

[PM7nj]

9. I know, we are pretty lucky.

We have the lowest gas prices in the country right now. I was shocked when I was in PA last week, the prices were 20-30 cents higher.

[defendandprotect]

15. We may be in line for some FLOODING, however . . . if we get more rain ---

everything is loaded with water ---

and they're saying "La Nina is on steroids" ---
but the Star Ledger mentioned that without connecting any of this to Global Warming!!!


shhhhhhhhh......

[acmavm]

7. Just went to the gas station where I paid 3.129 a gallon. Deisel is almost

4 bucks. At 3.89 I think it said.

edit: to add that the 3.89 was for deisel

[DJ13]

8. Im finding myself waiting for trucks to fill up at convienience stores

Diesel is cheaper there (about .15 to .30) than at the usual truck stations, so some are filling up at the local mini-market.

[ThomWV]

10. I saw it last week, a triaxle pulled up at a Dairy Mart.

[newfie11]

25. Diesel has been higher than gas here for several years.

We have been paying over 3.20 a gallon and up for over a year. It is now 3.98-4.19 here.
Talked to an independent trucker yesterday who had spent 800.00 in 2 days on diesel.
Much of the diesel around here has bio diesel mixture in it, however the mileage drops and the price is the same.

Off road diesel (for tractor use) was over 2.00 a gallon last fall. I don't know what it is now.

This growing season is not going to be pretty around here. The drought continues, wells are drying up, Ditch irrigation is not going to last the season.

All of this, plus traders running up commodities means higher prices.

[L. Coyote]

18. So, how long until our children breathe clean air?

Burning less diesel sounds like a really good idea to me, if it means transporting fewer luxuries and non-essentials.
One small population transports and consumes 25% of the world's resources. Solve that problem, and diesel prices drop!

[defendandprotect]

24. Serious question: See: "Who Killed The Electric Car?" . . .

an eye-opening movie ---
and an idea-filled movie ---

and probably at your library ---

If you do get to see it, please pass along the info ---

[Clear Blue Sky]

28. This is nuts! Most cars sold in Europe are diesel.

[earth mom]

30. I talked to an employee at a truck stop along the freeway & she said that she doesn't see

some regular truck drivers anymore. They've thrown in the towel because the price is just too high.

I'm not sure how much diesel is here, but regular unleaded has been between $3.45 and 3.49 a gallon the past few weeks. :wow:

[earth mom]

31. A bit off topic but here's a must see: "Saved by the Sun" on PBS NOVA.

I saw part of this the other night and it was very interesting! I think it will be rebroadcast next month.

Saved by the Sun. Is it time to take Solar Energy seriously?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/

New ways to catch rays:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/catch.html

[depakid]

32. Trucking is not only underappreciated- it's one of America's Achilles heels

One of those sectors that will be the first to feel the brunt of peak oil and its set of cascading events that will result in more and more businesses and activities becoming uneconomic.