April Fool’s Day Truckers’ “Shutdown” Gains Momentum

33 Responses to “ April Fool’s Day Truckers’ “Shutdown” Gains Momentum ”

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• Mike Solowiow :
  March 24th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
  
  

  Robert,

  I still remember how the UK fuel protests in September of 2000 had long lasting and dramatic effects. I see this as going either way, a dramatic and history changing event… or an event only covered by Iowa.

  I’m sure you remember the strike… you lived there when it happened!

• Robert Farago :
  March 24th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
  
  

  Shut down the country. HUGE gas lines.

  The UK government created [military] plans to ensure it won’t happen again. But fuel prices were never rolled back.

• guyincognito :
  March 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
  
  

  I don’t know, I think they are taking too narrow a stance in this strike. Perhaps they should have added the annexation of one or more states to their list of demands…

• Donal Fagan :
  March 24th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
  
  

  I remember the Farmer’s strike in DC 1978. I was an idiotes then, hardly ever following the news. I lived in Arlington and worked in Bethesda. That morning I drove about a quarter mile until traffic stopped. I went home and called in. My boss told me about the strike and said that tractors had tied up all the main roads. I got on my moped and drove between all the stopped cars. That night we saw police breaking cab windows and throwing tear gas inside. Nowadays they’d probably taze them.

• 1981.911.SC :
  March 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
  
  

  Well, this will sound bad, but, April 1 might be a great day to go for a drive. Fewer trucks on the road is a good thing.

• RayH :
  March 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
  
  

  Roll back taxes, price goes down, demand goes up, prices go back up again. Go for it! While prices are down, I’m loading up every empty milk jug, 2 liter pop bottle and 40 year old 5 gallon ironside I have for the diesel I need to make hay this summer.
  I think it would be a lot more useful as a demand to call on the fed gov’t for increased production capability for diesel via incentives or something. It seems like their demands are a little narrow-minded, although I’m not an expert as to their insurance situation admittedly.
  This past summer I had truckers coming for hay to go to drought-stricken areas (more severe than southern Ohio) coming to pick up LOTS of hay. The two I helped load up (and load and load and load) said they were making more money than ever, but were concerned about USA “open borders” trucking with Mexico threatening their jobs. That influx of cheap labor/trucking seems like a greater threat to their livelihood than expensive diesel, but maybe that’s just me. When I don’t feel like thinking I just blame Walmart for all the national wrongs.

• Blunozer :
  March 24th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
  
  

  @1981.911.SC

  I was thinking the same thing! Imagine the open road without all those rolling warehouses!

  Shipping should put more focus on rail than highways anyway.

• Pelle Schultz :
  March 24th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
  
  

  State and federal taxes on diesel average something like $0.46/gallon. Great idea, let’s eliminate 10-15% of the price of diesel (and the only portion that’s actually going to serve a beneficial purpose) to give truckers a break. I’m sure the prices won’t go up any further.

  Maybe they’d be better off putting their political clout behind politicians who actually engage in policies that don’t promote high oil prices.

• bleach :
  March 24th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
  
  

  I don’t see this strike gaining traction beyond independents. They are the group getting squeezed hardest by the fuel costs since they are typically paid by the mile and responsible for their own costs. Meanwhile the larger trucking companies will charge the customer a fuel surcharge to recoup the extra cost of diesel.

  The independents would have a easier time striking for a higher pay rate per mile from the major freight carriers than getting taxes rolled back.

• yankinwaoz :
  March 24th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
  
  

  Interesting observation when he spoke of being taxed twice on the same fuel when he crosses a state line.

  My BS detector is going off. I can understand if he is paying STATE taxes in multiple states. But I doubt he is billed twice for the same FEDERAL tax. And to him, that looks like double taxation.

  A state demanding their taxes for using their roads makes sense. Otherwise in some areas a truck could cross the state line, fill up, then come back.

  I suppose that states could implement a tax solution on diesel like New Zealand has. In NZ, you pre-pay a tax for kilometers on your diesel vehicle. They then give you a windshield sticker that states what the mileage can go up to.

  States could, with a transponder system at their borders, trigger a mileage tracker system that then bills their owner. With current technology, a tracker could also use GPS to track which state a truck is in, and how many miles it has driven in that state.

  If the states (Canada too) got together and standardized on how to track and collect, then the tax agencies themselves could pay for these devices and still come out ahead.

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