All truckers unite april1,2011 shut em down

I run my own authority, DOUBLEL, so it is a non issue with me. I have my own trucks so I am the one who makes the decision as to whether they move or sit. I won't move my trucks unless I can get a fair rate and still make a profit. Ironically, I made more NET profit when fuel was at $5/gallon than I made when fuel was at $2.50/gallon. I understand about paying taxes and how much it costs to run a truck. I have probably owned trucks and paid taxes longer than most on this board. I have been in business for many years. I understand the pressure of keeping the wheels running when you have drivers in your trucks. But, when I am paying the costs of running the truck, then I am the one who decides when the rate is sufficient to move the truck. I find the loads, negotiate the best rate and pay the bills. I understand very well what it takes to meet a payroll and to survive the ups and downs of being in business. I have had as many as 91 people working for me. I have also owned other non trucking businesses over the years. No business can survive very long without making a profit.

Fuel is too high and although rates have come up, they are still too low for the cost of fuel. Still, I am getting along and without hauling cheap freight or losing money on any load that I haul. I did park my trucks for several months. I decided that it was better to let them sit than take money out of my pocket to keep the wheels rolling.

 

You know its funny,no "commical" really,all of you that have posted "We need to strike!!!" SHUTDOWN!,,PULLOVER,,,Go HoME!!

Yeah that will show them

Okay for the sake of a argument "WE" somehow find a way to get the majority(okay this is a fantasy so Ill say ALL of us) to Shut down

NOW WHAT??? COME ON all of you Einsteins,havent herd a PEEP as to what to do when WE all get our brakes set,Okay I have a few suggestions

1.Wave at the passing traffic(You know the HAPPY motorists now that WE are off the road)

2.Oh yeah lets get the least educated driver amongst us to get interviewed on CNN,MSNBC,FOX(You know just like the EXPERT eyewitness that saw his mobile home fly when the Tornado hit,,"Sounded just like a freight Train"

3.Complain on the Truckin Bozo/Dave Nemo,ETC.... as to why the media isnt taking us seriously(Yep that will get OUR point across)

4.Sit in a truckstop and wait for the word to get back to running

Feel free to add to this list ,cause thats about all is going to happen if this Fantasy of a strike would actually happen

I keep hearing what WE need to do,but its all about up to the point of a strike,now answer me these questions
1. WHO(what entity) speaks for ALL of us,equally???
2. What do WE want(lets be specific,and fair across the board)
3. What happens if the above said items are NOT met?

NO see none of these SIMPLE questions can or will be answered(hell just watch the responses to this post)

If you want to change the system just striking will amount to NOTHING

 

Well, I'll take several shut downs for the nose-bleed media to become aware of what we are doing - I say start doing it the 1st and repeat as necessary until they ask us why and we can explain that we need to run a business.. I'm in for a break - I have taxes to do; count me in!

 

Not my idea, I read it here but it could work while we keep working. Draw a circle around DC of 150 miles and no one take freight in or any freight out for a week.
Keep your rigs rolling just don't go inside the circle for any reason. Let all the politicians stores dry up and things might get moving in our direction.

 

iam drive home take my days timeoff this is better then a strike,i have to pay my bills and i can pay the bills iam ok with my job i live not to bad from this money,only iam thinking strike works for nothing only loosing more money you can change nothing with a strike

 

No body is making money with a strike, but sometime that is the only legal tool that you have to have the things change. Statu-quo is no good for anyone. If we keep continue like we are doing now , well in 10 years we still be at the same point an the rest of the society will have improve an we will be far behind

 

Nothing will change until you change the attitude of the current owners and drivers in this business. There are too many owner operators who are not businessmen. You can't blame all the problems on the big carriers. They only account for about 10% of the business. It is the other 90% you need to change.

 

to many drivers on the street without good experience this is the problem ,and for this the DOT like to change the rules ,the problem come from the big carriers,to many studentdriver for very cheap money,for the big carriers is cheaper a studentdriver then a experiencedriver.for the dieselprice you can do nothing the opec make the price not the usa gov.this is my opion

 

It would do more to change things for the better if all the energy spent trying to get owner operators and drivers to strike would be spent educating them. Perhaps we should make it more difficult to get authority or to buy a truck. That would reduce capacity. Oops, that would only allow the mega carriers to gain market share by purchasing more trucks and hiring those who cannot get into a truck of their own.

It isn't just the major carriers who haul the cheap freight. It is also many owner operators. Perhaps education is the answer. When it comes down to it the price of fuel is less important than the rate. If you charge enough to offset the cost of fuel and other expenses, pay the driver (even if you are the driver and owner) and still have a profit then costs become less significant.

I would like to see owners turn down freight that isn't profitable. That is what I do. Every load that goes on the truck should show a profit for the truck. At this point, there are too many who are willing to take a cheap load to get back to a better freight lane, even if they lose money on the load. Some justify hauling the cheap load to average the rate. While it can work for some, you are still losing money on the cheap load. I prefer making a profit both ways.

You cannot legislate common sense. You cannot legislate or force people to not haul freight that isn't profitable. The reason there are so many failures in this business has to do with poor management and lack of capital. The lack of capital could be partly resolved by only hauling loads that make money. If you come into this business with limited or no capital then you must find good paying loads to keep you going. Many will haul anything to keep the wheels rolling.

For an owner operator or carrier to go on strick is the same as a retailer, such as Target, going on strike because their merchandise costs too much. They don't have to buy certain merchandise. I can't see Target or any other retailer closing the doors until the price of their merchandise or comes down.

If you want to effect the price of diesel you could target certain truck stop chains, such as Pilot. Encourage others to not buy fuel from Pilot for a week or two. If enough people stop buying fuel from them their prices will drop out of necessity. I was told that Pilot makes $1.25/gallon on diesel. That was when the price was around $2.50/gallon. If true, that is a lot of profit. While prices of fuel are mostly driven by oil speculators, many of those speculators are major oil companies such as Pilot. Supply and demand fuel prices. If people stop buying a particular product then the price will come down until people start buying again. That is what will happen in the oil business. People are still buying oil. When demand drops sufficiently then retail prices will fall. You could encourage people who purchase their own fuel to only fuel at mom and pop truck stops. It would be good for the economy and by taking money away from the big chains would result in lower prices. I think that going on strike and trying to have everyone shut down will not work. You don't have a common goal or spokesman. Put some effort to target a specific oil company and not buy their products. When I grew up we actually had gas wars. It kept prices low. I remember buying regular gas for $0.19/gallon when these gas wars were going on in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

 

TOMORROW IS THE 1st, Whats the bottom line, are we in or out ? IM PARKING MINE ON THE 1st. And i bet after all this whining in here, NOBODY else will follow.... I hope im wrong...........