When are the semi drivers going to do something about these diesel fuel prices

[XcumminsX]

I saw 1. 86 today while driving where i live. I live near the largest industrial parks in the United States and i see at least 1000 semis everyday. NO JOKE. . My question is... . When are these semi drivers going to get fed-up with these rediculus diesel prices and start parking there trucks untill they lower it? I know they threatend to do this a few years ago and it worked. . Damn gas station owners



Nick

 

[BarryG]

Cant speak for the independents but as someone who receives a lot of stuff from the national lines the fuel surcharge on the freight bill will just get bigger. I don't mean to say that the surcharge isn't a valid item but it used to be used for the times when it was a short term price hike but I don't recall getting a bill without it for the last couple years. I think they now use it as a way to keep their freight prices lower instead of incorporating the higher prices of fuel these days into their rates. Though I must admit I do not know how it really works or is used. I just know it didn't used to be there except for short periods of time now it is there all the time.

 

[Dkevdog]

First of all, everyone shares your frustration with the costs of fuel. Secondly, it is not the owner operators fault that fuel costs have risen, and there isn't much they can do. They park, then the bank takes the rig, and they starve. Barry's right, I've been seeing "fuel surcharge" on shipments for almost 2 years now, and all they'll do is kick it up some more. We are at their mercy and they know it. They could raise it to $3 a gallon and we'd still buy if we want to drive.



For what its worth, don't blame the station owners either, they are just the messenger .



If you want to blame someone, blame the US dependency on foreign oil, and our love for big SUV's.



Kev

 

[XcumminsX]

Well where i live a whole bunch of places around here got fined BIG MONEY for hiking up prices. So in my case it is the gas station owners. Sorry if i was innaccurate about where you guys live.



Nick

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Dunno about the dynamics of the trucking industry in this country as compared to others - but when fuel prices, among other things, got out of hand in Europe, French truck drivers went on strike and shut the country down. Didn't take long for the politicians to find ways to "fix" the situation, and get the trucks rolling again!



SURE, as long as the public will continue to PAY for increased delivery costs, the trucking industry will simply pass those costs on down the line - but I honestly feel the trucking industry, either on their own or at the urging of the public that supports them, could STOP the blatant fuel price gouging going on virtually overnight is they were motivated to do so...

 

[Dkevdog]

Originally posted by Nick Sommer

Well where i live a whole bunch of places around here got fined BIG MONEY for hiking up prices. So in my case it is the gas station owners. Sorry if i was innaccurate about where you guys live.



Nick

THAT SUCKS! I guess that would irritateme as well. Out here in So Cal they tried that, but there is too much competition. Everybody trying to undercut everyone else (station wise) and a couple pennies difference can mean they get the business. .



I think what they are doing is jacking the price way up, and then bringing it back down a bit then jacking it up even higher, so that eventually we'll all think $2 a gallon is cheap.



Kev

 

[QRTRHRS]

It's one thing for a fleet operator to add a surcharge and quite another for the average owner operator to do any more than fork over more money. As far as unity among drivers forget it. The closest that ever came to be was in the 70's. More or less what happened is that the union companies kept running and chose to send delegates to Washington. Only a wanna be martyr would shut down today only to be blackballed for their endeavors.



Fuel is not the only issue. There is a move to allow the states to change interstates to toll roads. The various authorities are raising toll prices for example the PA turnpike and the Delaware River Bridge Authority. Add to this strict DOT enforcement.



And by the way, I am all for DOT enforcement but this is what is happening. In the interest of revenue, some enforcers will nit pic down to the most minute infraction often not safety related at all rather than issue a warning. Then, "they" have the gall to ask you to help fight domestic terrorism.



You want to do something about the high cost of fuel? Stay home as much as possible. Plan trips to accommodate multiple tasks.



Personally, I think our economy is in deep doo doo regardless of what Greenspan or anyone else tries to say otherwise.

 

[RollOver_Pete]

Truckers will never shut down. If they did, there would be plenty of south-o-the border trucks (thanks nafta) around to take our places. As far as a fuel surcharge goes, every little bit helps. What hurts just as bad as high fuel prices is the high insurance rates. Trucking sure aint what it used to be

 

[Truckie]

Thats right were making less money now then we did 20 to 25 years ago, and paying twice as much for fuel and insurance. More regulations and roles that make it that much harder to make a buck. RollOver_Pete you are right

(thanks nafta) that is why the truckers could never shut down because they would let all them trucks in, in a heartbeat, and then you got the cutthroats out there that would run even if every trucker would just shut down for 24 hours.

Its a no win situation.

MIKE

 

[Borush]

Some of the large trucking co's (I won't name names) get subsidized by the government for training and hiring new drivers who often wind up making less than minimum wage by the time all the hours worked are counted up. These co's make more money from the subsidies than the trucking. Thats how they get away with charging . 90 per mile. The fuel price hikes and shut downs just put the little guys under. It is a no win situation.



The only way to make a decent living in trucking is to have a hauling niche with specialized equipment and customers. The common freight just goes too cheap in an industry that has trouble regulating itself.



Boyd.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

No matter what we try to do ourselves to get the oil prices under control worldwide, it won't work. We're all part of the international trade crap with oil. The oil companies buy and trade back and forth with one another to reduce their transport costs to a certain area. That means if we stop buying foreign oil, we'll just be reallocating where the overall disbursement goes to. Even the domestic oil companies are in on this, so it really is pointless to fight that. The arabs and Venezuela companies won't bring the rates too high per barrel, because then Canada can start refinig the oil slates they have competitively. Once that hits the market, it won't go any higher, except to furnish our states and fed with more tax % of the consumer basis.

A friend of ours is making bio diesel with good results. We tried a few tanks of it and it worked good. A little less power, but its much cheaper overall to use, (no taxes can be applied to it since it is homegrown and they can prove how much you use, or regulate it yet) They'll find a way to get to it eventually, but for now, it is an effective way to protest the fuel hikes and taxes. In the end, it will help our farmers to stay alive if they start growing crops to produce it.

I am not a tree hugger nor I am a filthy liberal, I am however sick of making Arabs rich, anything I can do to lower their income from me personally, I'll do it, even if it costs me more to do so.

Unless we can colonize the middle east (doubtful in this day and age) or make Iraq pay us back in oil for "freeing" them, I see no way to stop the price hikes without an alternative to the oil industry's product to force them to compete.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

The railraoads are squealing too. Then don't pay road tax, but they own & maintain their own track, & that's expensive. I work for BNSF west out of KC, to Wellington, KS & back. Never before in my career have I been hounded & monitored more on fuel conservation. They assign each train an "HPT". (hoursepower per ton) If the train is low priority, like coal or grain, it gets 1. 0 or maybe 1. 5 HPT. Some intermodal double stack trains might get 2. 5 A super hot, late, UPS train might get 5. 0 You have to figure up total train tonnage, plus an in any dead or isolated motors, and only put enough power online to meet or stay just under HPT. They watch this closley, as well as fuel wasting train handling & braking characteristics. Black box type data is constantly gathered by our locomotives, and downloaded by radio each time it goes by a tower & then stored. If we deviate from built in parimiters in any area, it flags that event, and our Road foreman of Engines will have it on his desk before we finish the trip, so we can "review" it together. Our GE locomotivews are actually more efffecient in R-8, which is wide open, than any other setting. They would rather have three units in Run-8 most of the trip, than have a four unit consist running in the lower notches to make the same total HP & train speed. I just with they would let me have a small % of the fuel I save them in a years time.

 

[Bova]

Nick, Do you know how many truck drivers it takes to screw in a light bulb?... None, they just sit in the dark and ***** about it.



Truckers will NEVER stick together... EVER! I sold my rig in the early 90s during the last "strike" that never happened. They are in so deep and run so cheap that they cant shut down for a long weekend much less a couple of weeks.



I used to see guys take "backhauls" from L. A. to Florida for $900. Thats 23 tons in a 48'x 102. They tell me it pays for fuel?



That load probably paid the broker in L. A. $4500. He has a desk and a pen for overhead. The trucker with all the liability,fuel, road tax gets paid $900. I cant blame the broker for making $3600 for a phone call,I blame the trucker for being a fool.





There is not many Independents left, and if the Federal gov't. has its way there would be none. Just two big trucking companys, one orange and the other yellow.

 

[dpuckett]

And that is why I will never be an O/O. Too much hassle and headache for too little return. Were it not for the DOT, ins regs, and 4 wheelers, trucking wouldnt be too bad. Truck drivers are to the modern world what the cowboy was in the 1890s- independent, free spirited, hate a 9-5 job, keep on the move, etc, etc. They will never band together for a common cause; it would require team work and compromise. Not bashing truckers, just making an observation.



The best thing WE can do is lower demand- slow down a hair (ok, i know that is no fun, but if you can gain 2 mpg- 10%- over the course of a year. . ), plan trips to kill as many birds as possible with one stone. I just paid $40 to fill my tank, and the fuel light had just come on. Something tells me I may take the car a few days this week, though once summer gets here, and I get a 18 hsg on the turbo, they will be neck and neck- 22 vs25 mpg.



Daniel

 

[robobx]

I wish I had space and time to make bio. In the meantime I'd like to park the truck most of the time and drive the TDI.



There really is no reason for Diesel to be $1. 599 a gallon when 87 oct reg is $1. 559 gal

 

[y-knot]

What are they suppose to do???... ... .....





Turn the question around and what are the normal people that drive everyday to work suppose to do about GAS prices??... .



Maybe you should be the start of this new revolution??, I don't know what you have in mind, but go do it and they will follow.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I think the point is sorta that the truck drivers and businesses are far better organized as an industry and group, with more potential leverage - us commuters on the other hand, don't have much group backing... Get several hundred thousand truckers in the state Capitol, you get action - get me and my car pool on those same Capitol steps, and we get laughed at...



Maybe we should establish an auto driver's union...

 

[JyRO]

Hard to do, but...

Seems like the truckers had some problems with the state of OH. 5 to 10 years ago. I really have no idea what I'm talking about but just telling you what I heard. OH was pulling truckers over and writing tickets left & right, specifically pulling over truckers, even if doing only 5 over is what I heard. And the speed limit was (is?) 55 for trucks and (I know its still) 65 for cars.



If I were a trucker, this is what I'd do to protest. I'd run the speed limit and not 1 d@mn m. p. h. faster. Just imagine what it would be like if every truck on the road was running 55 mph (or whatever the speed limit is).



1) They'd be getting better fuel mileage,

2) They'd still be delivering their loads and not starving,

3) They'd not be breaking any laws, and

4) They'd be like a rolling road block.



Those rolling roadblocks would really get some attention IMO.



All I know is if I run 65 mph all through OH. in my truck empty, I can get about 23 mpg. vs. 20. 5 - 21. Depending on the truckers' gearing, they should be able to save fuel too. That's the way to protest ... save money, deliver your loads, don't break the law, but to also be as big a nuisance as legally possible. But getting all the truckers to do it IS the problem.



- JyRO

 

[XcumminsX]

Originally posted by Gary - KJ6Q

I think the point is sorta that the truck drivers and businesses are far better organized as an industry and group, with more potential leverage QUOTE]



You hit it on the button



Nick

 

[y-knot]

Do you realize if you had said the word UNION on the DTR, they would ban you for life.



There are too many up tight ass holes over there, and it seems as if they are all sc-- (non-union). The whole power tripping rank structure(TOP,First Guy under TOP, Second Guy under TOP, Third guy doing something to second guy to get his position) is enough to make you sick. For some UN-known reason it is not OK that a guy makes a decent living, I guess misery love's company???





Does anyone know anybody from the DTR??? If so are they all related?? Wait... . they are mainly from WV, They are all related down there.