Unfortunate.

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I applaud Mathew in his efforts to make a change even with misspellings and incorrect set-up of his petition. I do not think that this required an assault on him for his intentions. It is unfortunate that this attack resulted in the removal of what could have been a post of positive influence.


Brickman hit on the real problem here with shippers expecting to keep their profit margins on the rise by enforcing rates that are outdated. Truckers are good old blue collar workers like most of the country and by being in this class it lends itself to abuse by the white collar society. Unlike the writers in Hollywood most, if not all, can simply not afford to stand behind our convictions no matter how well intended. We live paycheck to paycheck and this is what they can count on to squash threats of strike/shutdown. While a shutdown may take place for a few days perhaps even a week they know that it won't go past that. They know that our greatest conviction is to our families and that we will at some point cave to low freight prices in effort to keep them fed and clothed. Our economy has become driven by laziness and greed which can only last so long. The working man can only buy what his paycheck will allow. When this begins to effect the corporate world with lower profit margins then and only then will something change. Regulations on fuel, brokers and such will come into its own just as it has done with the housing industry. Anything left to run wild will eventually become its own undoing. Our only defense to all of this is a conviction to make our businesses more economical by reducing costs and fighting for the best possible price that one can get in effort to survive till the economical balance shifts again. Even simply refusing to do a job for a lower rate will not make much change since someone somewhere will come along and do it for less. A unity in this area is what is truly required and will be the only way to bring about expedited changes in the industry. If a thousand drivers refuse to pull a load for such a low price and the freight must be moved, shippers and brokers will have no choice but to increase the pay. However this is not going to be a permanent change as this increase in pay will be passed to the consumer (IE) you and yours. It is the double edged sword of capitalism. Better pay means increased cost of goods. This has been the juggling act that our government has played for more than a hundred years. It will get better but it may very well get much worse first. History of our country proves this. Check the history books and look at the time from from the "Roaring 20's" to the Great depression of the 30's and up through the boon times of the 50's. Unfortunately outsourcing of labor through corporate greed has become the proverbial selling of our soul to the devil. What is to come of this country is unknown but we are no longer the great power of finance that we once were during the industrial revolution that established the corporate mentality of #### the little man. Only time will tell and my hopes are that we all will survive.

 

Your reference to socialistic controls is exactly my point. This is a capitalistic society. Since this seems to not take grasp with you I will clarify......My intent was to state to those who demand government regulatons was that what is happening is part of the ebb and flow of our economic system. Regulating fuel, brokers.... would place us in a socialitic economy. Accept what is happening, make the best, most informed decisions for you and yours and hopefully each of us will survive till the tide shifts, as history shows it will Some of us where around in the 70's. Those who have only been in the workforce, Post Reagan, seem to be the ones crying the loudest. I agree ppl are spoiled and want free rides. WORK for a living is my moto. In the future I ask that you read past the first line. Thank You PS: Your a cold hearted Ba$%%$$ LOL So am I when needed.

 

Yeh thats where we are now. People said the same thing in the 70's when gas went from $.36 / gl in 1973 to a $1.60 in 1977. Young whipper- snappers like you didn't have the pleasure of this great moment in history.
I used to fill my motorcycle(2.25 gals), buy a pack of Marlboro's, a Coke and a bag of peanuts for $2.00. Those days are long gone