TRUCKER SHUTDOWN APRIL 1ST TIL ??? CHECK OUT THESE SITE FOR MORE INFO: www.truckersforum.net/forum (chat room available)(up to date info) http://www.topix.com/business/truck...uld-trucker-shutdown-be-reality-truckers-view http://www.topix.com/business/trucking/2008/03/trucker-strike-2008 http://www.helplowerfuelcost.com/ http://www.truckertotrucker.com/trucker/ http://www.thetruckingindustry.net/strike.html GENERAL PUBLIC NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH This rising fuel cost not only affects the Owner Operators. It affects the company driver as well. It also affect the general public and here is how. With the rising cost of fuel, comes higher costs for everyone. Gas and Diesel fuel, food, household goods, clothing, building materials, home décor, automobiles and the parts to repair them. Utility bills, Insurance, Tax, and the list goes on. It effects EVERYTHING around you not just products we need, but services we need also. The things in your life that you enjoy will become unattainable due to cost. Think about our children. What burden are we going to leave with them. This has to stop. Before we all have to stop because we can’t afford to go on. Shutdown April 1st. Let’s band together. UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL
A strike probably won't happen on a large scale. Most of the little guys can't afford not to run, and the larger ones are unionized. Schneider and a few other big trucking firms are rumored to be lending support, but that's not confirmed. According to Trans4Cast (can't link you to this because it is private industry forecasting stuff): "Load searching drifted down 1% in the last week of March compared to the third week of March. This is an implication that loads were easier to find. However, truckers were pickier about loads." As a freight broker, I know that the cost of moving goods is absolutely soaring in most markets. Texas is still okay because load demand is low, and carriers will take lower prices to get out of the state. However, loads coming into Texas are at a premium since most drivers don't want to be trapped here without a profitable exit load.
Ummm, lets not bring in mexican drivers, we can barely understand the drivers we get now, and they are supposedly american. I doubt this has much effect in our industry, the petrochemical movements are as numerous as they have ever been and like thumbs said, the little guys cant afford to not run, and the big companies arent gonna give up paying work, they just pass the cost on to the clients who can easily afford it. (at least in the petrochemical sector, I can't speak for others)
You would be scared sh...less if you knew how many big rig drivers there are on the road who can neither read nor write nor speak English. Other than theft, the inability to communicate in English is one of the biggest reasons for mis-deliveries and lost cargo. In California the driver's license bureau allows an interpreter to come along to assist a prospective commercial driver with the written and driving exam. Hispanic drivers tend to be diligent and honest. There's no problem with their work ethic. But, until they learn English, they are a hazard, and I won't book a carrier unless their driver knows the language of the land. IMO, there's too much insurance risk for the shipper, the carrier and me, the broker, to do so. BTW, get used to the sticker shock from higher food and commodity prices. Rates in the trucking business are going up by the day due to inflation and higher fuel prices. That means the costs get passed along to all of us -- the consumer.
Have you figured out how the rail car gets down the road to the retailer? Rail renewal is definitely a positive in the transportation industry, but rail has serious limitations. It is slow and is designed for bulk shipments, not LTL (less than truckload). The keys to solving our looming transportation crisis is conservation coupled with increased domestic drilling / alternative energy sources.
who killed the electric car?? has ne one seen this movie, if not you should. So you can see how evil auto makers,congress,oil companies really are.
You're working off the assumption that down the road the American consumer will actually be able to afford anything at said retailer in the first place
That will happen when we no longer need food, clothing, shelter, medical supplies and gadgets. I have faith that, as Americans, we will find a way to cope.