Would you be willing to shut down??

[greg334]

I am sitting here, reading all of this and wondering does anyone actually know why the price of oil is up that high?

I don't think many understand how a devalued dollar screws with the price. I don't think many get the fact that the prices quoted in the news is futures prices which means basically they are betting on the prices of oil going higher.

Now here is a bit of news, the people who sell us oil don't want to see the $150 price because we buy oil in dollars. And if you know anything about what happened to the Pound, you will know that having something traded in your currency and having the value of it approach the value of toilet paper is not a good thing.

You all can speak of the conspiracy all you want, Bush and his family with the Saudis want to raise the price up so far so that they can make big profits but hey if it goes up higher, they sell less and if they sell less, they make less. A perfect scenario for them is the mid-90's prices were stable, dollar was strong and the number were right.

There can't be a strike. I feel that if there is a strike by Independents, the companies will take up the slack. If there is a strike by company drivers, the company can simply explain to them that they are fired and show them that there are people waiting in line to replace them - they are called Juan, Migell, Jesus and Maria. Being blunt, the stupidity behind this idea of a strike will give the administration and some in congress a very valid excuse to push very hard for Mexican trucks on this side of the border. If you want to take a chance at it, please do so because I don't have a lot at stake in this business and I can walk away.

The best thing to do is what I said to and Are12 is willing to help out. And for that matter, I said it once before and I will say it again, if you really want to see fuel prices stable and affordable, get government out of the fuel business - and Ron Paul won't help.

 

[danlittle]

I find it really hard to understand how some of you guys not all but some, are all against a peacefull shutdown.
The shutdown has drawn National attention to the problems ALL truck & truck drivers are face'n today.
Even Hillary Clintons office has called me twice about this.
Now you can sit and tell me how well off you are making it, but the plain truth is I CALLED FOR THIS SHUTDOWN on april 1st 2008 to draw attention to Not only our fuel costs but also Insurance costs, excessive DOT NON-Safety regs, ect.
If we get anywhere is up to you. not me. Its gonna take all of us.
We dont need the major players / fleets over 2000. as they are not facing the same issues we are & our Gov already knows that.
For those of you that have been in this business as long as I think back 20 years, dig up some old paystubs. Then I truly think you will agree. This Ind as a whole needs help.
For every penny fuel raises it costs the trucking Ind $391 million dollars, will at the same time the AP reported that our Gov subs fuel costs to the IRAQ people so they can buy gas for 5 cents a gallon. yet that gas costs us around $2.oo a gallon.
Think about that come April 1st And if you see a truck shut down on that day maybe you should Thank Him for try'n to help the whole trucky Ind.
Enough said, you can start telling me how wrong I am now.
Dan Little Cattle Hauler

 

[nightcreacher]

Dan all a shut down will do is make the public have another reason to hate truck drivers.they wont see that we are trying to help them.you want to straighten things out,then slow down and dont buy as much fuel,hurt the oil companies in the pocket book.if all the major companies dont shut down than it will be for nothing.Over the years ive been thru a couple strikes,shut down in 81,before that in the 70's and practically nothing came of it,except when the union trucks shut down.as long as crude oil is bided on the futures market,it will never come down.to many people are making money in the oil business now.same with that crap hey call bio-diesel.cost more,your fuel mileage is less,and it jells in cold weather faster.if you want to shut down,then take the trucks to dc as the farmers did,anything less than that wont do crap

 

[greg334]

Dan, I won't tell you, you are wrong, passion about issues is always right but the effort to me and a lot of others is not placed right.

Not to be disrespectful in anyway but you guys who want to do this have no Hoffa, no real leader and it seems that this effort may be better suited to reach out to the public through educating them and then talking to congress as voters. It seems to me that the days of labor are gone forever unless you want to revert to another form of government, like communism.

I can't thank anyone, to be exact not one of the articles or the comments I heard said anything about the people in the industry actually doing something that should be a priority, voting. I thank people who make an effort in engaging their representatives without a defeatist my vote does not count attitude.

I have not seen any grass roots effort to address one issue but several issues, take lessons from the hippies and nuts on the left and focus on one issue and ony one issue, and get people politically involved. If fuel is the concern, then run with only fuel, if insurance is a concern, then run with only that, but don't take four or five different issues and try to have anyone care, the public does not like diluted pleas for help.

I see an industry that is on the short end of the stick, I see an industry that really needs help but a lot of the people are (fill in the blank) when it comes to action for their fellow trucker. The days of the concern trucker are going, look around. Get them to be involved and you won most of the battle.

Read what I posted on this thread and other threads about political involvement. It matters on the approach, being centered on the message and being passionate.

 

[ATeam]

In reply number 11 in this thread, I said, "Would we be willing to shut down? Well, to answer that question it is first necessary to know what the reason for shutting down is.
What, exactly, do advocates of a shutdown want? What, exactly, are they seeking to accomplish with a truck shutdown?"

An answer finally came in reply number 42:

... I CALLED FOR THIS SHUTDOWN on april 1st 2008 to draw attention to Not only our fuel costs but also Insurance costs, excessive DOT NON-Safety regs, ect.

If the purpose is to DRAW ATTENTION to the above mentioned items, that does not strike me as a compelling reason to shut down.

I have seen several news reports in major publications that are already drawing attention specifically to the high prices truckers pay for diesel. A number of reporters have zoomed in on the news value (reader and viewer attention) of fuel at $4.00 a gallon.

People already know truckers are paying high fuel prices. They know, and they do not care. Shutting down will not help them know more. They already know.

They may not know about high insurance costs and the burdensome safety regulations truckers face. But if they did, they are likely to care even less about those complex topics.

A shutdown may raise awareness even more, but so what? The trick is to get people to care. Denying people their toilet paper, baby food, smokes, and medicine will get them to care, all right. But I fear they will start caring about things that make life harder for truckers, not easier.

 

[danlittle]

Take a look at this, this is just 1 story that has been published in the News, over 75 radio stations & all major TV networks have contacted us about this shutdown.
Anyway pro or con , whatever your views, heres the story in QC Times today.

By Barb Ickes | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |



It evidently took a few days to sink in.

When my story from last week about plans for a truckers’ strike appeared Monday on the high-traffic Drudge Report Web site, the calls and e-mails poured in.

I heard from CNN in Atlanta as well as small-time radio stations across the nation. I hung up the phone after listening to a dozen new messages and had four more come in during the few minutes I was tying up the line.

The potential impact of this thing is tremendous, and people are beginning to notice.

The call for a drivers’ shutdown started small — with an owner/operator who hauls cattle in Missouri. The trucker, Dan Little, posted his plans to shut down on his Web site, and someone brought it to our attention at the Times.

Now it’s been brought to the attention of thousands, and Little’s plan to park his rig, beginning April 1, has truckers lining up across the nation to join him.

Several non-truckers wanted to know how they could help the drivers, and some people said they would park their passenger vehicles in a show of

solidarity.

A clear majority of the people I heard from were sympathetic to the drivers. They said that they understand it is increasingly difficult — impossible, in many cases — to continue to operate a trucking business when most or all of the profits are going into fuel.

Here are just a few readers’ comments:

“I’m all for capitalism and free trade, but not reckless profiteering by oil

companies.”

“Everyone should call in sick April 1.”

“(The drivers) should park for a week or two and see if Congress and the president come up with any ideas when there’s no bread on the shelves.”

“Are the rich having some sort of contest to see just how much they can squeeze from each and every one of us?”

“I just drive a pick-up, but on April 1, I won’t use it.”

“Shut ’er down!”

But not all readers were sympathetic to truckers. Several called the plans for a shutdown “irresponsible.” Others pointed out that everyone, not just truckers, is paying the high fuel costs.

A few said that truckers who aren’t making it are failing because they’re lousy business people.

But those in the driver’s seat — independent drivers like Dan Little — are further frustrated by the naysayers who he says don’t seem to understand how badly the pump prices are hurting them.

For instance, Little pointed out, our $50 fill-ups may seem intolerably high to many of us, but consider what it’s costing him: more than $1,200 to fill his truck, which then gets about

5 miles to the gallon.

Other truck-driving critics say it’s time to shut down the trucking industry, anyway. They say that trucking is a poor way to transport goods, and America should rely instead on railroads.

Little would like to know how that might happen.

“Where is this magic set of railroad tracks, leading to every grocery store and Wal-Mart in the country?” he asked. “Even if you could ship everything on the rail system we have, which would be impossible, how does it move from there?”

Little has said that the last thing he wants to do is hurt the country that he loves. Truck drivers are some patriotic folks, he pointed out. But many feel backed into a corner by the threat of bankruptcy.

“All I know is that I have to take a stand,” he said. “My livelihood is at stake.”

As I was finishing this column, Betty Cornette called from Louisville, Ky., and said that her truck-driving brother has had to call it quits because of fuel and insurance costs.

She made this prediction: “Everybody’s going to have to suffer before they understand what’s happening to these truckers.”

 

[bernieh48]

Yes we would be willing to shut down if enough others truck drivers do it as well. That's what it's going to take is a bunch to do it though.
As someone else earlier stated. Ron Paul for president is the best choice for truck drivers. He is the only one who understands the issues truckers face and wants to do away with both the IRS and Nafta.

And most people we have talked with in stores and such said they would completely understand why truck drivers would go on strike. They don't look bad upon us for standing up for our beliefs out here. Yes it would hurt them in the stores but they all have told me they would understand. Most people are hearing of this already and are stocking up in preparation of it.

 

[arrbsthw]

There was something on the Atlanta Ga news last night about the truck strike. I was half asleep and didn't catch it all.

 

[greg334]

Dan,
I think Phil is a little ahead of where I am on this, I think we both see problems and one thing that I do see is that a ‘strike’ in any form will not be effective at all. There is no solidarity in trucking like there is no solidarity between unions.

You have little in the way of a passionate message to the public, press coverage means nothing unless you can leverage it. So what you get press coverage, so does Brittany and Lindsay. I think that you miss something that we, both Phil and I pointed out, what do you really stand for?

It is not clear to us, and you are truly picking an audience that already knows what is going on (I mean telling it like a truck driver to the press and not an ordinary person) and not actually communicating on a level others can understand – use the Einstein doctrine of communicating.

The Einstein doctrine of communicating is something that some people really get, look at Obama and Hillary. What made Einstein a real genius is not his work but how he could explain his point to a child or a peer, bringing the message to the audience in a way they get it. For some reason he understood where the people stood and knew how to communicate on that level. This is where you need to come up with one valid and useful reason and run with that. Tell the public how it affects them and get them on your side before considering some thing like this.

 

[Broompilot]

What would be the end GOAL, who would be the leader or leader(s) and WHY? I have seen on here Brokers. Are Brokers are problem? Than do not take the load.

America is built on the free enterprise system is it not? Than why punish the brokers? How about if Congress came out and told all brokers you are only entitled to $1.00 per mile and Truck Drivers are only entitled to $1.50 per mile?

Is this how we want the Government to get involved?

Now if we could strike for looking over all paperwork and billings, before loads are accepted maybee?

I thought about this long and hard last weekend, and my conclusion is this: Which is a question to YOU.

What have you ever seen the Government get involved in that improved what it was before they stuck there fingers in it? Please name me one or two success stories.

 

[rdtrpn]

I am sitting here, reading all of this and wondering does anyone actually know why the price of oil is up that high?

There can't be a strike. I feel that if there is a strike by Independents, the companies will take up the slack. If there is a strike by company drivers, the company can simply explain to them that they are fired and show them that there are people waiting in line to replace them - they are called Juan, Migell, Jesus and Maria. Being blunt, the stupidity behind this idea of a strike will give the administration and some in congress a very valid excuse to push very hard for Mexican trucks on this side of the border. If you want to take a chance at it, please do so because I don't have a lot at stake in this business and I can walk away.
if you really want to see fuel prices stable and affordable, get government out of the fuel business - and Ron Paul won't help.

I think what he meant to say is that he does not believe Ron Paul will help, not that he won't help. Mexicans crossing the border, that will happen no matter who is in office. McCain ( mr. pro war ) Hillary, Obama, Bush, Reagan, Carter. The latter 2 is to remind that border crossers have been around for awhile.

 

[ATeam]

What have you ever seen the Government get involved in that improved what it was before they stuck there fingers in it? Please name me one or two success stories.

Food inspection, World War II, interstate highway system, FHA home loans, fire departments, public libraries, and the elimination of polio, to name a few.

 

[cheri1122]

How can the Government help? By reducing the excessive taxation of fuel! The Government has helped many industries (mortgage, housing, savings & loan) and corporations (Chrysler, Continental Airlines, Bear & Stearns) out of financial troubles that were caused by their own mismanagement and greed - why shouldn't they help the small O/O's who have already been squeezed by deregulation keeping rates down, and inflation pushing costs up?
Reducing the taxes levied on fuel is what we should be demanding about now, IMO. We deserve help no less than any & every other American business.

 

[Kyreax]

Don't forget Government Cheese. mmm.

They got the Coast Guard Right

 

[greg334]

Food inspection, World War II, interstate highway system, FHA home loans, fire departments, public libraries, and the elimination of polio, to name a few.

Oh thats funny...
Phil, WW2 was an event, like WW1 - not a condition.

Libraries, like museums have always been a local level issue. Not a federal one. Even the National Art Museum got most of it's initial collect from Mellon. By the way, many of the public libararies in the US have one man to thank and it was not a government official - Andrew Carnegie.

Polio, wasn't that done at a university, not a federal government research center? Maybe they received some funding from the government but that is money that was taken away from people, so no they did not help.

Food safety, well look at the waste going on and the lack of enforcement.

FHA? well that is one of the problems we have now, the government in the housing industry. Get out of it and let the market adjust itself.

Fire departments? you know that many of them had nothing to do with the government until the mid 20th century.

OK I will give you the interstate system but they still screwed it up by not having a standardized road building system in place, even today. The states take the federal money and still spend it on other things and then charge us to drive on the road we already paid for.

Like Cheri said, get the government out of everything and things will solve themselves.

AND I meant that Ron Paul won't help. Meaning that what ever he say he can do, if he was president, he is very limited.

Oh and please stop kidding yourselves about McCain, Hillary would be the same and after listening to Obama, I think he would attack Iran too.

 

[Jefferson3000]

What you have to remember is that our friend Dan here who started this thread, is the very guy who started this whole strike thing. He is now visiting our site in hopes of stirring up a bunch of folks over this issue. Once this is over, we will probably never see him again. He will probably be remembered as just another "drive by."

About all that will be accomplished is that this Dan Little will have his 15 minutes of fame. Bye bye, Dan!

 

[Broompilot]

THANK YOU GREG: There Phil just posting to dissagree. You are soooooo right, and Phil nice try you are soo wrong AGAIN. Roads that is probably the only successfull thing they have done right but look again look at your own home town was there not a BRIDGE that fell into the Mississippi?

How about our successfull Social Security there Phil? Oh I forgot you are sooo successfull that dependiing on SS for your retirement is not an option since you do so well out here. But for many many others it is there only source of income. And now how about those Schools? Just a wonderfull system there, kids cannot read, all are dumbed down to be the same as we just cannot tolerate not giving every kid who deserves an award one, but to ALL cause we might offended those who put forth no effort. I can speak first hand on this I have a DAUGHTER and have actually gone into the school to question and all one can get is the run around. Pulled her out of the GOVT. run operation brought her home to Home School and her grades are now all As vs the rest of the Class Cs and lower most are lower.

Than there is all that protection down on the Borders, how about the WAR ON DRUGS Phil?

Korea, Vietnam we won those wars fair and square and the one we are now involved in with talk of pulling out if certian Candidates win? All success??? Do I need to continue on Phil? Nice Try Libraries thats your opinion of Success?

The more Government would stay out of our Lives the better off America would be. Nothing works better than FREE Enterprise, just ask anyone in Russia? That was the point Phil, not the few items that might work which are more on a Local Scale or Control but FEDERAL Manditated Laws that only make problems instead of fixing them.

Amazing that we have made it thru thousands and thousands of years eating with no Govt. inspection on foods I am really suprised after reading your comments on Foods that there was even a population to continue on for us to be hear cause this was created in what the last Century? Ever talked to Refer TT Driver? Just how are those Refer units Santized? And how about the Bathrooms they ALL use on the docks with people handlinig our foods not even having sinks let alone soap in the restrooms? Yum Yum thats true inspection all right. Ever hear of Landline?????Whistle blowers?

Housing FHA? Another attempt for your defense. Just look at how Govt interferance got us where we are today? Had the rush not to OVER FINANCE not happened mandiated by Washington pushed onto the Banking system to make every working person a home owner lowering and lowering the standards with Govt backing to Secure these loans would we be in the trouble we are in today? ANSWER NO common sense would have come into play. No Banker in his right mind would loan anyone 100% of the price of a home. The only people who use to be able to secrure these loans were Veterans, do to the Contribution they give I feel that should be the only exception. If the banks did not follow thru with my comments above they were violating someones right by denying the loans based on commonsense. Just like our Govt. forget commonsense now lets go fix the real problem facing America. Has it not gotten so big that even Washington cannot fix this mess?

 

[hondaking38]

with the load offers ive been getting and the breakdowns of the sprinter the last 3 weeks i might as well be shut down

 

[Kyreax]

I guess, if anything, the shutdown will boost Expedited deliveries in the weeks to follow. I know that's not the point at all, just saying...

I'll go ask around at the Triple-T and see if anybody is planning to shutdown there.

 

[are12]

Phil,

I guess I need to re-word what I said about pulling money from our reserves. What I should have said is, the high cost of fuel is coming off of our bottom line. When I look back, to when we 1st became owner operators, fuel was not even at $1.40/gallon but our cost of operation has changed. Each year, everything it takes to run this business,especially the fuel, has gone up except for our rate per mile.

Panther does have some great fsc's to help cover the rising cost of fuel but it is still costing more per mile to operate our business.

We may not have to be pulling money from reserves to stay ahead of the game but how many driver's are? Your answer is to look at your income and expense and see where you can make changes. Some driver's are out here trying to support a home and family, what expenses are they suppose to cut? Do they need to sell their home and cars to make it out here? Not everyone has that luxury to sell everything they own to become o/o's!!

Where is OOIDA in all of this? Other than collecting your dues and sending you a fancy bumper sticker for your truck, what are they doing? Why aren't they calling on their members, to take a trip to Washington, to make a stand? If they called you today and they said they need you in Washington on April 1st, what would you do?