Truck Shutdown a Success?
Categories: Enough is Enough
Truck Shutdown a Success?
Dan Little, the owner of US Cattle Haulers and one of several organizers of the truck shutdown has declared success. Many truckers shut down for several days and there were a myriad of stories throughout the media. Certainly attention has been focused on the issue. The ATA, OOIDA, Teamsters Union as well as many local and federal government officials took notice.
The question is – what actions have taken place to ease the burden on the trucking community? Dan Little is quoted as saying to fellow truckers, " "Hang tight. We're gonna see where we go from here."
It would seem as if the May 1 date could now take on increased importance. Perhaps it might be reasonable to call a halt to those participating now and work to obtain a larger involvement on that
date. There certainly has been attention focused for now, but it is unlikely that any long term benefit can be achieved without a statement of very well defined goals.
There are many suggestions out there, but one that would seem to be "achievable" might be a rollback in federal or state taxes on diesel fuel. The government certainly has the ability to reduce those taxes.
The federal tax on diesel fuel is almost 25 cents per gallon. State taxes are even higher. California (69.4 cents), Indiana (66.2 cents), Illinois (65.7 cents), Pennsylvania (63.6 cents) are the highest taxes
in the lower 48 states. Oklahoma is the lowest at 38.4 cents per gallon.
Perhaps a state could be targeted. For instance what would happen if truckers refused to purchased diesel fuel in Indiana for a week or two? Would that focus attention on the issue? Could that be the catalyst for some sort of relief? Indiana is small enough so that it could be transited in most instances without the necessity of purchasing fuel.
This would seem to be possible because no truckers are being asked to potentially lose their jobs. The large trucking firms could join in as there is a potential benefit for all.
Another idea might be that all truckers refuse to carry loads for less than (you fill in the amount) per mile. This would seem to be able to deal with complaints about brokers that offer far to little to move
goods.
Dan Little and others – what say you?
Comments
I like your ideas. We are currently setting up meeting with Drivers & O/Os around the country to make a one voice
Contact me if you would like to hold a meeting in your area.
We need to All Work United
Thanks
Dan
see my website for Details www.uscattlehaulers.com
or email me at dlittle@uscattlehaulers.com
Posted by
dan little
on April 4, 2008 at 7:44 AM
I'd say for sure target Calf., I always had to fuel in Kingman, or the lower Az. before going into Calf. and hope I could get out before fueling again, which didn't always happen, depending on how many miles I had to travel in Calf., the produce end of it.
Posted by
karen
on April 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM
why is it that we are not a skilled labor when we are about the mose regulated work force and we get hit with these out ragest costest if it werent for us the country would have any thing
Posted by
dazed and confused
on April 5, 2008 at 6:27 AM
The next shutdown will bring much more attention. Thanks to all the attention that was created this last week, I can't help but think May 1st-8th will get more attention. The two largest problems facing trucks, High fuel prices and low freight rates. Trucks are netting less today than 20 years ago, and that is without figuring in yearly inflation figures. The bottom line, trucks need to start getting paid a fair wage. Drivers need to start getting paid fairly. With all the truckers give up, We should be paid accordingly. We are liking any other worker in this country. We just want to work and support our family.
Posted by
Shoestring1
on April 5, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Really getting tired of hearing all this complaining, why dont you just finally DO SOMETHING?? Oh wait, you will all get together next month.......thats right i forgot. Oh and the last "thing" yea that worked out real good, saw the fuel price drop overnight you all scared them sooooo bad.
All of you sound like a bunch of whining school kids that have had their candy taken away by the teacher and are too afraid to do anything about it. Oh heres an idea, go tell mommy and daddy about it they might help you. Talk talk talk......its as cheap as the help that is behind the wheel and almost as useless. Here is a helpful tip, quit whining and stand up like a man and DO SOMETHING or shut up and deal with it like the rest of us. I have not seen one blog on the web that has been dedicated to the single mom who is working a minimum wage job who has to decide to put fuel in her car or feed her kids yet.....hmmmmmmm that means she has plenty of reserve cash.......lets strap her with extra surcharges !!!!!!!!!! she seems to be able to keep her finances in order........why cant you???
Posted by
boo hoo it hurts
on April 5, 2008 at 3:57 PM
boo hoo: for one this isn't a blog for single mons and I bet that single mom is getting welfare help too, food stamps, med. card, and maybe even supplemental income, she should give that up and start driving a truck, what you think? At least drivers do earn their pay, for what it's worth, and the strike w/o backing is going pretty darn good, considering the odds against us, people like you, for one. As for you, you wouldn't last long out there on the road, my friend, you dont have the backbone for it, you'd be scared to death, that's obvious. Go to a truck stop and spout out your nonsense, let me know the time and place and I'll sell tickets, but you just might get laughed off the truck lot too. Good ideal for you, why dont you start a blog for single moms, give you something to do with your backbone.
Posted by
karen
on April 5, 2008 at 4:11 PM
PS boo boo: I was a single mom, raised two boys, now men, and then I went into trucking, it was the best move I ever made, not so much the money, but the fellow truckers I met and sharing the road with them showed me more things about this world that the average person can not learn or share. It's a whole 'other' world that most can not endure, and for the ones who have been out there most of their life, I have to hand it to them, they are in a class all of their own. You want to pass God's tests, be one of them.
Posted by
karen
on April 5, 2008 at 7:39 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbakN7SLdbk
There is no oil crisis. Watch the video. This man was there when the oil was found. A crash is desired in order to set up a North American Union.
Also see http://spp.gov/
Posted by
Wilheim Hass
on April 5, 2008 at 10:03 PM
It's not just truckers. It's everybody!!! If you can't stop running then don't spend a dime on May 1. The whole countryis getting on board this one.
Posted by
rukind
on April 5, 2008 at 11:57 PM
I am starting to hand out flyers on monday 4/7/08.The flyers will say SHUT EM DOWN TRUCKERS STRIKE MAY 1 2008.You may think that you can't afford to not work for 5 days. But the reality is you can't afford not to join in on the strike.Spread the word.We want it coast to coast.Together we can force a change. Come on everybody!From 1truck to hundreds of trucks. Independents as well as Fleets.Shut em Down.Company drivers if your company will not support the strike,take the week off... That is the flyer that me and my wife and employees will be handing out.We will be at truck stops and companys.In N.J,PA from 4/7/08 till 5/1/08 please do what ever you can to get the word out.
Posted by
robert mcguire
on April 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Ok, first allow me to appologize for not stating my thoughts more clearly for the simple minded, I do tend to ramble on a bit from time to time. I do not believe that you have the intestinal fortitude to do what is needed. Yep that is correct I just said your balls are not of the correct size. Park them sideways on the freeways, cut the brake lines and pull the computers off the engines. Shut them down not just set the cruise on 30 and slow traffic down. If you are going to do it then DO IT. But once again, I have to remind myself YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BALLS !
All just a bunch of WHINING COWARDS> !!!!
Posted by
boo hoo it hurts
on April 7, 2008 at 5:28 AM
for Karen....
My dear, please do not question my backbone. For a great number of years I put more than that on the line while I stood on the wall to protect your libertys as a fellow american. I did it without question and if you have not noticed with out FAILURE!
Posted by
boo hoo it hurts
on April 7, 2008 at 5:56 AM
intestinal has nothing to do with testical, balls, you need a medical book,(that was funny, made my day) and you haven't shown anything to be noticed, and this is the last comment from me that you will get, I dont feel like wasting my time because you are a boo hoo, 'which means' cry baby, but thanks for giving me alil chuckle :)
Posted by
karen
on April 7, 2008 at 8:32 AM
I hope that you hold to your word karen, hopefully with help from god your two bastard methbabys are at this time attempting to seperate your undoubtly oversized rear from the chair it has most likely grown into and you are now mad enough to get into your pretty pink volvo (or kw or pete or freightshaker or mack or whatever, they are all made in mexico so why does it matter what you call them because unlike a growing number of you they arent afraid to WORK for their money) and DO SOMETHING instead of just sit in front of your monitor foaming at the mouth like a mindless vegetable that most truckers are. If that is so then i will be pleased that i have helped to motivate you.
Posted by
boo hoo it hurts
on April 7, 2008 at 9:08 AM
I'm not a trucker but I'm behind you 100%. Why should anyone have to work 10+ hours a day for slave wages? Get organized guys. We're behind you.
Posted by
Demeur
on April 7, 2008 at 11:51 AM
If you're not getting fair wages or fuel surcharges, strike. Leave those of us who are getting fair wages and fuel surcharges ALONE.
If you can't run your business like a business, then get your tourist, ignorant butt off the road.
Posted by
Willie
on April 7, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Oh yeah, why are you calling this a success? Just because you made it in the news? BFD! Nothing was done and nothing is going to be done. The only thing good about it is the ones that shut down, there will be more freight for the rest of us. At pretty good prices too I bet!
Posted by
Willie
on April 7, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Yo Willie...Do you know what a question mark means?
Posted by
trailerman
on April 7, 2008 at 12:32 PM
a bunch of know-it-alls, dont you think?
Posted by
karen
on April 7, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Appears the methbabies were unsuccesful .........must of OD'd.....
Posted by
boo hoo it hurts
on April 7, 2008 at 7:18 PM
I am not at trucker, but i feel the pinch of the gas prices, I'm a traveling nurse and travel at least four hours a day to work. I think everyone in this country who who wants things to change should not spend any money on May 1. I would love to see the parking lots empty at wally world and every other big chain stores. Some of us don't have the choice to not work, but we can choose not to spend any money, just one day would hit them hard and a week would cripple them. Go Truckers.
Posted by
kendra
on April 8, 2008 at 8:34 AM
The time is NOW!!! The random state fuel boycott HAS begun.
Four states each week. For five weeks,.... 20 states total.
Starting Sunday through Saturday Midnight each week, do not buy fuel in the listed states:
April 6-12 IL, NJ, NM, UT
April 13-19 IN, NY, MS, NC
April 20-26 PA, VA, AR, GA
April 27- May 3 OH, SC, FL, IA
May 4-10 CT, AL, OR, CO
You CAN make a difference!!! Economics WILL get their attention.
If ONLY 100 trucks a day participated,... that’s 700 trucks a week at about 1000.00 (to fill up), that’s a little less than 3/4’s of a million dollars. That’s not counting sales beside those at the pump. Now take a guess how many trucks cross any given state per day, and if only a small percentage takes part, still a pretty LOUD statement!!! This is NOT to target any particular area, fuel chain, or specific truck stop.
We still live in a country of CHOICES, FREEDOMS, and CHANCES!!
PLEASE......PASS THE WORD!!! TALK IT UP ON THE CB!!!
THANK YOU AND BE SAFE
JUST ANOTHER DRIVER
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
SPREADING THE WORD
Posted by
sonny
on April 8, 2008 at 2:38 PM
RANDOM STATE FUEL BOYCOTT!!!
The time is NOW!!! The random state fuel boycott HAS begun.
Four states each week. For five weeks,.... 20 states total.
Starting Sunday through Saturday Midnight each week, do not buy fuel in the listed states:
April 6-12 IL, NJ, NM, UT
April 13-19 IN, NY, MS, NC
April 20-26 PA, VA, AR, GA
April 27- May 3 OH, SC, FL, IA
May 4-10 CT, AL, OR, CO
You CAN make a difference!!! Economics WILL get their attention.
If ONLY 100 trucks a day participated,... that’s 700 trucks a week at about 1000.00 (to fill up), that’s a little less than 3/4’s of a million dollars. That’s not counting sales beside those at the pump. Now take a guess how many trucks cross any given state per day, and if only a small percentage takes part, still a pretty LOUD statement!!! This is NOT to target any particular area, fuel chain, or specific truck stop.
We still live in a country of CHOICES, FREEDOMS, and CHANCES!!
PLEASE......PASS THE WORD!!! TALK IT UP ON THE CB!!!
THANK YOU AND BE SAFE
JUST ANOTHER DRIVER
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
SPREADING THE WORD
Posted by
sonny
on April 8, 2008 at 2:50 PM
karen, as a male truck driver with (i hope) normal sized balls, I would like to extend a heart felt apology for the mindless prattle of the "boo hoo it hurts" crowd. those type of mysoginistic ignorant rednecks give us all a bad name, not just truckers, not just men, but the entire human race. may u and yours be healthy, successful and happy
Posted by
carl larsen
on April 8, 2008 at 4:20 PM
thank you Carl, this is why I take up for drivers, this is what I get out on the road, respect, I'm talking about professional drivers, because 'without "drivers" America stops', never mind the truck, it ain't going no where without a driver, I know this from being one, but I know what drivers have done 'long' before I got into it. I have the utmost respect for them. Again thanks. Special K
Posted by
karen
on April 8, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Oh, thanks for the health, success, and happiness comment, my sons are doing good, one a Merchant Seaman, the other working for his electricians licence, and they are very proud of me driving a truck, took a couple trips with me, but they said they weren't cut out for it after they seen all that had to be done. :) PS:dont tell 'anyone' but I weigh about 135 lbs. :)
Posted by
karen
on April 8, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Im glad to see something coming into focus here. I also have made a website/survey to help bring drivers together and come up with a plan. There seems to be some good ideas of what might work. like Dan said, planning ahead is going to make it effective. Its nice were getting some recognition and I think its gonna get better.
Posted by
Imaginary friend
on April 11, 2008 at 5:34 AM
I think the only way for us to be effective is to completely shut down our operations for a week or 2.We then will have the negotiating power to get our rate up where they need to be to continue operating with a reasonable profit margin. The real problem is we have no control over our rates because the shippers dont HAVE to negotiate now. When they cant move their product, they will be more sensitive to our needs. We cant control the price of fuel, but we can control our income if we get the power to negotiate with our shippers.
Posted by
bill tootle
on April 13, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Think you have something there tootle, shippers.
Posted by
karen
on April 13, 2008 at 9:53 AM
Los Angeles, Houston, Newark/Port Elizabeth Port truck drivers to Shut Down April 30, to call for ALL truck drivers to shut down beginning May 1.
The 3 largest ports in the nation, west, east, and gulf coast all taking ACTION!!
Get ready!!
Posted by
Ernesto Nevarez
on April 14, 2008 at 7:53 PM
I'm behind you too, Karen even though I don't know you I support your ideals as a truck driver. The BOO who guy sounds like someone I hear whinning on the CB everytime I turn it on and then off. Grow up sissy.
Posted by
Ron
on April 16, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Thank you too, Ron, appreciate your support, and I know what you mean about the CB whiners, whew. Everybody be careful out there and get home safe. Oh yeah, does anyone know when the National Truckers Prayer Day is?
Posted by
karen
on April 16, 2008 at 6:45 PM
take a look at www.pledgetoimpeach.org, as that emphasizes the may 1st strke, which that group is joining.
Posted by
vespertine
on April 21, 2008 at 9:39 PM
