Mandatory Fuel Surcharge!!!!

[trhoades]

I have just written my Senator about my strong disapproval for the Manadatory Fuel surcharge being omitted from the Highway and Safety bill. I would hope that some of you out there will follow suit. The senate still has to approve it , so maybe by some miracle it will make a difference.

I am so disgusted right now. Could we possibly get a little relief from these fuel prices? How could rationally thinking people be so one-sided?

Sorry, it feels good to vent a bit.x(

 

[M A WEBSTER]

All he is going to tell you is KEEP PAYING YOUR TAXES SO HIS GAS TANK DOES NOT GET EMPTY. Those bunch of jerks in Washington dont give a damn about the american people.Its take care of the rest of the world as to save face. Its time for the REAL AMERICANS TO STAND UP AND FIGHT. Start reviwing what the house and senate are doing to help the American people. IF they're not voting to help americans, then on the next elections vote them out and put in some one that cares about the United States and the Hell with the rest of the world. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. (SECURE OUR BORDERS) BORN IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 100% AMERICAN UNITE TRUCKERS OF AMERICA LETS MAKE A DIFFERANCE

 

[hdl]

>All he is going to tell you is KEEP PAYING YOUR TAXES SO HIS
>GAS TANK DOES NOT GET EMPTY. Those bunch of jerks in
>Washington dont give a damn about the american people.Its
>take care of the rest of the world as to save face. Its time
>for the REAL AMERICANS TO STAND UP AND FIGHT. Start reviwing
>what the house and senate are doing to help the American
>people. IF they're not voting to help americans, then on the
>next elections vote them out and put in some one that cares
>about the United States and the Hell with the rest of the
>world. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. (SECURE OUR BORDERS) BORN IN
>UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 100% AMERICAN
> UNITE TRUCKERS OF AMERICA LETS MAKE A DIFFERANCE

You wouldn't know it from mainstream media news articles, editorials, or commentary, but the passage of CAFTA just repealed every single article in the US Constitution where the Congress is given the power to regulate trade. These powers are now in the hands of foreigners who sit on any number of bodies created by GATT,WTO,OAS,and CAFTA. These individuals will not be elected and those Americans you do elect will takes orders from them. This is just an extension of NAFTA and puts this nation on the same path as the European Union. It is nothing less than pure treason. And no, the Democrats, who mostly voted against it, aren't any less guilty of treason, their votes against it were not based on issues dealing with national sovereignty.

It's not logical to believe that individuals that could care less about this nation would care about fuel surcharges to independant truckers. The rise in fuel prices can be offset by lowering wages that will be paid to the South Americans who, in the near future, will be able to cross borders without documentation just as it is in the European Union. Remember, it is not your fuel surcharge that is important, it is the return to multinational investors - the big ones.

Americans, for the most part, will not stand and fight for the simple reason that they wouldn't have a clue as to what they would be fighting for let alone who needs to be fought.

 

[kwexpress]

KW Express
o/o till i die



Hot off the presses!!!

There is a man on the cb hes upset about it being removed to

he also feels the same as you and thinks the only way to get
them to do something about this is just raise the rates to $3.00 per mile to make up for the cost of fuel he has said his entire fleet will not run for less than $3.00 per mile.

I kinda wish we could all join him

 

[windshadow]

well when they came out with world trade agreement a few yrs back, it was the begining of the end for all american workers.this is the trickel down that every one is seeing these days. The problem is getting bigger every day. Jobs being sent out of the usa. labor rates going down hill do to cheap labor being able to come here and work for nothing .Then they take are USA dollars they made go home and live like kings ,I think the word is negative dollars. So whats wrong with this picture? know one will stop it. It is sad.my 2 cents

 

[hdl]

>well when they came out with world trade agreement a few yrs
>back, it was the begining of the end for all american
>workers.this is the trickel down that every one is seeing
>these days. The problem is getting bigger every day. Jobs
>being sent out of the usa. labor rates going down hill do to
>cheap labor being able to come here and work for nothing
>.Then they take are USA dollars they made go home and live
>like kings ,I think the word is negative dollars. So whats
>wrong with this picture? know one will stop it. It is
>sad.my 2 cents

OK. But do you know what the geopolitical rational is behind all this?

 

[truckerbse2]

Stop and think about what you are asking for. First of all when was the last time when government got involved with anything that it got better and worked smoothly????

Second, you are posting on Expeditor's site, so I have to assume you run for an Expeditor. Currently our fuel surcharges are running 22-24 cents/loaded mile and as high as 40 cpm on the west coast. Yes there are some customers not paying any, but they are getting better about charging it. I guarantee if the government gets their hands on it, we won't get that much.

If you go with the example of a general freight carrier, then most are getting the fuel surcharge on loaded and empty miles. If this were to pass, then you would only get FS on loaded miles.

If you are not getting FS from your carrier then you need to take a hard look at what is keeping you their. If fuel surcharges and a concern for you, then start looking at how you are doing business and make the situation better.

 

[trhoades]

> If fuel
>surcharges and a concern for you, then start looking at how
>you are doing business and make the situation better.


How I run my business is neither here nor there. No matter how you run your business, high fuel prices are cutting deeply into your profits. As fuel prices go up, they are slowly going to drive more and more independant contractors out of business. Especially, the drivers that are only 1 or 2 trucks strong. The mandatory fuel surcharge would be a big step in preventing this from happening.

It's not like the prices we have now are at the highest that they will get. If they go above $3.00 per gallon, there aren't too many small businesses that will be able to keep it going. And who says we won't peak at 4 or 5 dollars a gallon within a couple years?

 

[truckerbse2]

By knowing what your bottom line is (your cost per mile for your truck), you know whether or not a load is profitable. There are too many operators out here who have no clue what fuel costs them per mile, let alone the big picture, so yes it does matter how you run you business. I don't care if the fuel surcharge is zero, the run can still be profitable if the revenue per mile works out. There are also a lot of o/o's that don't seem to think to use deadhead miles to figure the revenue/mile. Why not, you have to buy fuel, you have tire wear and the miles go against your oil change not to mention in some instances you pay tolls on empty miles or mileage tax, so yes, empty miles need to be included in your revenue/mile. So if you don't know your bottom line you don't know what the load is paying you to your pocket. I don't care if you have 1 truck or 10 trucks, if you haul loads for less than your bottom line or for what covers expenses, you will eventually go broke. So if your cost per mile is say $.70, how much are you worth as a driver. I say a minimum of $.45 (expeditors typically don't get as many miles as OTR drivers, so the rate needs to be higher.) I'd rather see that at $.60 or more. so you need a load to pay $1.30 for all miles to be profitable. If you are running in a high toll area like the northeast, take the toll cost out before you figure your rate/mile. That extra $100 bucks to bridges can take the profit out of a load. Just say no. When drivers take a backhaul because it "pay's the fuel home" they are doing themselves and the rest of us a huge disservice. If these jokers for brokers couldn't get the load hauled for less, they wouldn't offer them out for less. If I'm gonna throw a dime a mile out the window to go home I'd rather not be putting money in a broker's pocket to do it. Oh yes, according to law they can only keep 15% of what the load is paying. Pllleease. If they can make an extra buck or two they will and usually do...and that comes straight from the brokers. When you haul a cut rate load, that money doesn't go back to who is paying the shipping, it goes straight to the brokers pocket. Why should brokers or any one else have any respect for us as drivers when we don't run our business like a business and don't know our cost of doing business and let them run over us.

 

[truckerbse2]

Again, I will say it will be better for us as drivers and o/o's to stand up for ourselves rather than get the government involved. Nothing gets better when the government gets involved. They don't work for free!

 

[plumcrazy8]

Just a few comments of my own here.

1. It appears that our political attempts in the past 20 or 30 years to form a one-world govenment are coming to fruition. We are continually lowering our standard of living and pouring money into all other countries to raise their standards of living. This has to happen for the politicians and foreign-investing fortune-500 companies to continue to hold power. The stock market demands continual world financial progress and that, my friends, means FOREIGN investment rather than padding our pockets. I don't like it and you don't like it but that's what our crooked government has done to us. The USA will never be the same. Our politics are on a track that will not, can not, without near revolution, turn.

2. Fuel surcharge? Be happy with whatever you get. If it goes mandatory then the freight rates will lower to compensate. You are NOT going to win this one. No Way. We are way too insignificant to sway the powers financially. Even the ATA is fighting us on this (oh, big surprise here, huh?).

3. The ONLY way you can make a difference is to sacrifice. Buy fuel ONLY from companies who don't import from OPEC, Buy American (if you can figure out who owns the company), Demand from your local and state politicians that they be truthful in campaigning so we can truly make an informed decision when we vote, practice and demand personal responsibility of yourself and of those around you. If you do all this then maybe the next generation will catch on and make a difference - we sure as heck can't seem to!

OK, I'm done.

 

[Lawrence]

Plumcazy,

I agree 101%. Well said.

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com


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[Broompilot]

Plumcrazy, a Politican will never be truthfull with special intrest groups treating them at our expense NEVER... fuel sir charges will, change the rates shippers know what they are gona pay and with or without a sircharge thats all there gona pay its us who are at fault for such low rates but one person will not change it we would all have to unite and since our goverenment has encouraged so much debt as a life style......
People cannot afford to stop working a day or else they jeoperdize their credit rating.

Our Govt has encouraged all of us to be debters. Why? So they can keep us all employed and supplying the Med.S.S. band wagon.. If anyone needs proof go back to the early 60s and look at the medium income adjusted for inflation and the tax rates and compare them to today and how many people in a family worked back than compared to today? Family tax break took how many years to pass?

Debt is the guarantee that both husband and wife have to work to just survive. Buck the system get out of debt and get your freedom back, many more doors will open when you have several options to choose from. Forget about our Government ever doing anything to help us with out lining their own pockets first (life long health insurance) for one the list of perks at our expense should spark a revolt but were to busy paying our debts to see what these people are doing with our $. Keep us from not thinking, or in the dark...

 

[trhoades]

This is why things do not get done in the trucking world. Instead of taking 2 minutes to write a congressman (or congresswoman), we would rather write a 10 minute paragraph on the 15 different philosophies of the subject.

I got news for you people, there are a lot of trucks on the road. If 75% of us could agree on 1 subject, than we would be quite a force to reckon with. Thank goodness our forefathers didn't have the "I'm only 1 person, what can I do?" philosophy. We'd all be running around saying "God save the Queen".

Maybe the surcharge wouldn't have made a big difference, but at least it would show that a little unity can make a change.

 

[davekc]

As mentioned above, unity would have helped but accomplished little.
Sad to say but true.
Trucking is a market driven business, and it comes down to nothing more than supply and demand.
Rates will increase when there are fewer trucks and drivers.

Davekc
owner
21 years

 

[trhoades]

Unity is everything. Unity is why there are so many BS laws in the books. Politicians always follow the numbers. The problem is, not enough drivers vote. So, when we send letters to our representatives and senators saying that we're not voting for them next election, it's an empty threat. So our unity needs to start in the voting booth.