Trucker's Strike Oct. 31st... Rumor?

[OT]

I was told today that ALL companies associated with shipping will be shutting down on October 31st unless fuel prices drop.
Trucking companies, UPS, Fedex, and probably train lines as well.

I gotta say, this sounds like a great idea.
Much better than trying to get all the people in the country to not buy gas on a certain day.
The prices will probably drop before that, but probably only to keep shipping going.
Hell, I'll be happy if they just lower diesel prices.

Anyone heard about this?
I'd especially like to hear from folks that work for the shipping companies.

 

[Fergie]

Stock up on TP folks.

 

[GSequoia]

Awhile back truck drivers here in the Los Angeles area (not all of them mind you) did the same thing to protest the high price of diesel fuel vs. gasoline (guess what, it's high again!). Instead of simply not showing up they got their trucks and drove them onto the freeways, lined up abreast in all lanes of traffic and drove real slow. Some just parked on the freeway, took the keys and walked off.

Diesel came down fast, and luckily the protest was staged durring the morning commute time, since my work day doesn't start until 10a I missed all that traffic .

The power of strike is amazing!

Sequoia

 

[Fergie]

Take a note from German truckers. They did the same not too long ago.

 

[Geepfreak]

My wife works for Fed/Ex, i'll ask her if she has heard anything about it when she gets home.

 

[skierbri10]

All this will do is hurt the American people, worse than the price of fuel.

 

[Kejtar]

All this will do is hurt the American people, worse than the price of fuel.

How do you figure

 

[skierbri10]

How do you figure

Because it will result in a shortage of whatever supplies they are hauling, and will increase prices due to supply and demand. It is just my opinion.

 

[Kejtar]

Because it will result in a shortage of whatever supplies they are hauling, and will increase prices due to supply and demand. It is just my opinion.

It's not that simple. Your costs are already going up due to gas prices going up and if that is left unchecked things might get out of control. Anyways, you're living on an island, so you really don't have much to worry about

 

[skierbri10]

It's not that simple. Your costs are already going up due to gas prices going up and if that is left unchecked things might get out of control. Anyways, you're living on an island, so you really don't have much to worry about

I'm living here now, but my heart and soul are still in Colorado. :laugh3:

Actually, it is worse for the islands, how do you think stuff gets here? First, a cargo ship by-passes us and drops the load of in California, or washington. Gets trucked to a warehouse to get sorted, gets trucked to another cargo ship and is shipped out to Honolulu, where it is trucked to a warehouse and distributed by trucks or ships to the other islands. All the while using fuel. So while you may or may not see an increase in the cost of your products, we almost certainly will. I hope that doesn't happen though. I am all for lower fuel costs, but not at the expense of consumers. Just a thought too, if Diesel goes down in price, what fuel will go up to cover the Diesel cost?

 

[PhunkXJ]

my dispatcher boyfriend has heard nothing about this strike.
(refrigerated trucking company)

I can't imagine smaller companies shutting down for a day, the potential loss of customers and freight could mean the end for many businesses. That's a huge risk.

 

[Scott Mac]

I work for a trucking company and I never heard of the strike.

Fuel prices came down because if increased production on other areas of the world.

 

[DrMoab]

I've heard a lot of independent truckers talk about this. They want to shut down for all of November.

Although in theory I think its a great idea....its going to hurt a lot of people too.

Sometimes though you have to suffer a little pain in order to get what is justly yours.

I don't think most people realize how bad it hurts trucking companies.

Sure when you go fill your 20 gal tank in your car and it costs 60 bucks....that hurts.

go try filling a 300 gal tank and have it run you over 900 bucks...and that's two days of driving.

Everybody is going to feel the sting though..Right now a bill is going through congress that is going to make it mandatory that all freight is charged a non-taxed fuel surcharge.

This means that everything you buy...and I mean EVERYTHING from TP to new cars will have a direct charge...that moves with the price of fuel.

It's not cheap either. For example....right now most companies are charging anywhere from $.20 a mile to .25 a mile surcharge. Well if the bill passes it will most likely go up to .40 or .50 cents a mile. That means that load of potatoes you ship from Idaho to New York is now going to cost you close to 800 bucks more to ship then it did before.

No matter whether you raise shipping costs or shut the country down for a month....you are going to suffer.

Really makes you love the Oil guys who are making all the profits doesn't it?

 

[skierbri10]

ANd they are making record profits.

 

[hackedxj]

ANd they are making record profits.

and getting a record tax break!

 

[skierbri10]

and getting a record tax break!

Just imagine the price of gas without the tax breaks.

 

[Darky]

Just imagine the price of gas without the $31,000,000 annual salary for Exxon's CEO...

 

[WayneXJ]

Just imagine the price of gas without the $31,000,000 annual salary for Exxon's CEO...

I heard it was 38 mill.

 

[rockwerks]

talked with one of the Honchos at the railway today BNSF they said they hope the truckers do on strike! As it satands now they have had a 35% increase in shipping cargo since the gas prices went up,

 

[w_howey]

With the way these companies bicker and argue over contracts/freight and haulage it will never happen. You can't get everyone to shutdown at once.

If you actually managed to get a significant portion of trucklines to shutdown even for one day, the others would be swimming in business. The companies that did shutdown would start right back up, so as not to lose market share.

In the ole' days, when one company covered a lane, it would have work. But now everyone goes everywhere, and tries to do it cheaper/faster/better than the competition.

Plus, you add to the fact the remaining railroads would love to drain the roads of trans-con truck traffic.