The Source for Trucking News, Opinions and Trucking Jobs | The Sky is Falling!

And fuel prices are rising. Another non-story and it’s nothing new. But the press is talking to these poor truckers and listening to shutdown rumors.

Truck Drivers May Impose Shutdown To Protest High Gasoline Prices.Tulsa - How would you like to pay more than seven hundred dollars to fill up your tank? That’s what truck drivers are faced with in the wake of soaring fuel costs. And, it’s hurting independent drivers the most. They have to pick up the bill.

Seven hundred dollars? I’ve heard that figure before, but if you do the math it’s not very probable. Not impossible, but most fill-ups are going to be between 150 to 200 gallons. This week the average price in Oklahoma is $2.429. The math never seems to work out. Sounds more like truckers exagerating and the press eating it up.

And you can’t have an article about fuel prices without this -

We’re also hearing rumblings of a trucker shutdown to protest the high fuel prices. Tim says if and when it happens, he’ll be a part of it.

“Not just me, but a lot of people,” he says. “Just don’t know, a lot of
drivers, we’re planning to shut it down. And, whenever we shut it down, this country’s going to come to a full stop.”

A couple of weeks ago, six hundred drivers in South Florida stopped their rigs on a busy intersection in protest.

My question is still out there -

What is a shutdown for fuel prices accomplish? Who’s going to lower the
fuel prices? The government? They could lower their fuel taxes temporarily, that would be nice for awhile but wouldn’t fix anything. The government could require shippers to pay a fuel surcharge to truckers. OOIDA pushed really hard to get that in the energy bill, but it didn’t make it into the final version. My personal opinion is that brokers would just lower their rate and add on a fuel surcharge and the final rate would be exactly the same. When I see the confirmation from a customer or broker, some brokers itemize the trip, breaking out fuel surcharges, stops, labor, etc… Others give you an amount and you can itemize it if you want, but that’s the amount they’re paying, period.

I honestly feel sorry for the guys that are running leased-agreements with some of these companies, they’re in a bad situation and can’t get out. But any other owner operator that’s running for less than his expenses deserves to go under and should go back to being a company driver.

We just bought a new truck and we’re going to be looking for our own trailer. We are doing pretty good. My office knows what a good paying load is. Shippers and brokers are realizing they have to pay to keep the trucks running. I think they also know who they can take advantage of and who they can’t. I feel bad for the guys, but trucking is a business, a very different business than it was a few years ago, but it’s still a business, we have to change and adapt just like any other business.