Truckers Threaten "Strike"

Though technically not a strike since it's owner-operators, the nation's truckers are fed-up with the high cost of fuel and the lack of increase in price paid per mile:

What started as a small, online grassroots effort now appears to have the potential for something bigger.

Dan Little, the owner/operator of a livestock hauling company in Carrollton, Mo., estimated Tuesday that at least 1,000 other truckers from across the United States have committed so far to joining him in a strike on April 1.

Although none of the truckers interviewed Tuesday at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, Walcott, which is just off Interstate 80 west of Davenport, has heard of the intended strike, some said they would shut down, too.

Weldon Kinnison, a Virginia trucker who was hauling soft drink from Indiana to Denver, heard about the plans for a strike for the first time Tuesday while stopping at Walcott.

“I’m an owner/operator with the American Truckers Association,” he said. “I’d park my truck for a week with the cattle haulers.

Honestly, I don't blame them. Truck drivers pay excessive tolls (in essence, a tax that is greater than the rest of us), have the cops pulling them over constantly, have set hours in whic to drive as many miles as the can, must pay for repairs and maintenance continually and are separated from their families for long periods of time. I know, choose you rate choose your fate but these guys give alot and get little in return.

Anyway, this could be a direct threat to the economy. As trucks go, so go most goods and services. If the independent truckers stop hauling, the big trucking firms would have to pick up the slack and they charge more and there aren't enough of them. Either way, prices will spike for the short-term. A trucking slow down will have an instant impact, a full shut-down would have our economy tanking within a week.

So what are they asking for?

“What I would personally like to see is our federal and state governments, until our economy recovers, suspend federal and state fuel taxes,” the 49-year-old said. “The second thing I’d like to see is an oversight committee for truck insurance, which is part of what’s taking us down.

“The average owner/operator is paying $600 to $800 a month for truck insurance. It’s based on personal credit, which means the monthly cost is going up for a lot of truckers because their credit is going down.

That sounds fair enough. The government and some presidential candidates are calling for a bailout for people who had no business buying homes in the first place. How can they ignore these guys who are busting their asses everyday keeping the goods of this country moving?

Easy, because most of them are considered by the Democrats to be redneck, country music-listening Republicans.