Brilliant Way to Protest Gas Prices

Posted on 14-04-2005

Brilliant Way to Protest Gas Prices

Who was the brainiac that came up with this one?

News4Jax.com - News - Truckers Stop On Expressway, Protest Gas Prices.

Dozens of truck drivers held an overnight protest of rising gas prices Monday in the middle of the Beeline Expressway, according to WKMG-TV in Orlando.

The truckers pulled their big rigs on the side of the road in Orange
County, Fla., just after midnight on the Beeline, near International
Drive and began their protest.

Just after Midnight? At night? Nice cardboard signs, you can’t even read them.

WKMG-TV videotaped the group holding signs on the side of the road early Monday.They said the high price of gas is practically putting them out of business, according to the report."Right now we spend $800 to $1,000 a week," truck driver Jerry Aponte said."We’ve
had to stop our lives and change everything and start thinking what we
can do now because the fuel price determines what type of life we are
going to have," truck driver Vernita Bardo said.

That’s great they actually got a news crew out there after midnight, but maybe it’s not the high price of gas that’s putting them out of business…

When tractor-trailer drivers feel the pinch of high gas prices, it is often passed down to the consumer, WKMG-TV reported.

Apparently, not often enough or maybe that’s the point these drivers are missing. What good does protesting high fuel prices do anyway? Who controls the price of fuel? The price of oil? I’ve never understood how protesting fuel prices is going to change the price of fuel.

The public sees - poor little truck drivers, they’re having a tough time. And then they go on with their business. If truck driver’s don’t understand the relationship of fuel prices and rates, how do they think the general public is going to understand when a group (a really small group) of morons protest fuel prices, instead of protesting rates? And how do we protest rates? Any volunteers on that one??? I can’t be the only one that gets this.

Owning a truck is a business. Not everyone can run a business. I know I’m still learning. But if you’re not making money owning a truck, go back to driving for someone else and make some money.

Comments

larry black on 8 May, 2005 at 1:55 pm #

wayne you are an idiot

brian on 29 June, 2005 at 11:16 am #

good afternoon,
I am a small transport company in Vancouver,BC. And i am finding these high fuel prices very difficult to pass on, as our customers have hundreds of different undercutting companies to pick from on any given day. However i am betting on the downfall of these companies to help surge our rates up. As all of these guys have the same costs and expenses as i do, the problem i have is the drivers want to complain about the price of fuel, and take it to the government. When as you said, the companies themselves are the ones to make the change. AS well if a company wants to make more money uping there current rates allows for more commision to be recieved. thus everyone is happy. We need to come together as drivers and company owners and address these facts. until then under cutting will continue, and the rates will stay the same if not get worse until there are no companies left to compete.

Juan Valdez on 29 June, 2005 at 5:58 pm #

SHUT IT DOWN, 1200 Container Haulers have shut the Ports Down. Lets make it NORTH AMERICA WIDE.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050629/RPORT29/TPBusiness/Canadian

William O. Salmon - Thru-Way Transportation - Orlando Florida on 14 August, 2005 at 8:06 pm #

Well hello to all that is corncern when it comes to trucking,I have been an owner of a small trucking for over 31yrs and I have never seen it this bad. When it comes to cost v profits. We will have to adjust to the facts that the cost are going up & the profits are going down and it is our fault when it comes to losing money. The reason for this problem is not the cost of fuel it is the rate cutting going on with these big super trucking companies.They are making it big - big and the small guy who built trucking, is getting kicked to the curb. Why! becuase there are to many BROKERS charging big bucks for freight movement and paying what they call back haul rates, Now you and I know it cost the same amount of money to go both ways,So when we stop hauling for what they are calling a backhaul rate is when we can start seeing more profits.The backhaul rates were started a long time algo when we P/U a load for a customer and they had a back haul out of the same area we unloaded thats when you can give a smaller rate to the customer.We have to stand down when you are looking for a load and just say no to backhaul rates.And limit these BROKERS from making 40 to 70% profits,all they are is a go between the truckers and the shippers/Shippers would make a lot more money if they work with there favorite trucking company,and stop working so much with brokers. This is where it starts and this is where it ends.It cost me over $18000,00 per year in renvue just for 2 complete rigs & we are doing all the heavey work.And thats not all we somtimes can’t collect our money due to bad management with are so called brokers.and when we do collect it is sometime 30 to 90 days later.

Thank you and GOD BLESS you all.

Dmitry - Omega Express - Springfield, MO on 13 September, 2006 at 8:57 am #

Sir William is right, its the brokers that are screwing our balls. I never buy their “I dont have that much in it” shit. I personally booked a load they were telling me paid only $1700 when we got the paperwork my driver told ‘total pay to broker/carrier $2700′ thats $1000 into the brokers pocket!!!
I was sorry I took the load running my truck $1.00 a mile a month ago. If everybody would stop taking the cheap loads, they would have no other choice than to raise the rates. Or else they wouldn’t get their freight out and their buyers wouldn’t be happy.