Petition Update

sounds like a greedy trucker to me, out only for yourself.

what you gonna do when your running your cans for percent and the interstate is so jammed packed with trucks striking you cant make a dime.

oh yeah thats right you will roll across a ditch and through a fence like all the other can haulers. you will roll over a few four wheelers on your way and not think twice about it too wont ya. let your brain think for a while. unite for once.

 

YEP SOUNDS LIKE HOLLYWOOD NEEDS TO BACK TO THE HOLE HE CRAWLED OUT OF!

 

I THINK HOLLYWOOD AINT NO TEN YEAR ROOKIE, HE SURE DONT SOUND LIKE ONE WITH HIS ATTITUDE

 

Hi! I'm not a trucker myself. I hope I'm not throwing coal to the fire here, but I've read the petition, and wondering...

What is it that you're hoping the government would do? Or what you'd hope would happen?

As far as I understand it, fuel prices are set by market forces here, it's not set by the government, as it was in some other country. So government can't really issue a decree that fuel prices will be this much, or should not exceed such and such.

I suppose the government can launch an investigation into what causes gas/fuel prices to be so high, and see if there's any wrongdoings involved. I seem to remember there's a congressional hearing about high fuel prices awhile back. Never heard what's the outcome of that. Didn't seem to do anything.

Otherwise government could release the oil reserve to 'flood the market' and reduce prices. But that's risky (reducing our oil reserves) and can last a short time at best. Unless we know that this high prices are just temporary spikes, this just won't do anything good in the long run.

Government could also subsidize fuel prices. But that takes a lot of dough, obviously, and for how long? No one knows if oil prices will ever drop back to normal level again. Also, generally a capitalist country like the U.S. loathe to subsidize anything. It's against the principle of capitalism. Though there are things that are subsidized in this country. So this might be a way... At least for the time being, while hoping world oil prices will go down.

Another way to relieve truckers is to raise freight rates. Then again this is set by market forces too, no one's really controlling/dictating it. If truckers refuse to transport anything at less than what they consider fair rates, shippers can't do anything but raise rates anyway. Presumably rates are this low because at this price there's someone willing to take it.

There's also something else to consider: If freight rates do go up across the board, so will price for everything else. Then your living cost will increase too. Then truckers might find themselves in the same position again, except it's prices of everything else that's squeezing them. Then rates will have to go up again to compensate, and so on...

I know, from what I read and heard here and elsewhere, that the current situation for truckers are untenable. I really don't know what the solution should be. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to decide, but either way, it doesn't seem promising...

Sorry for the long post.

 

I can proofread. Let me know when you need it read. If it's in PDF format, however, it'll be very difficult to put in corrections. Can you send it in a .txt or .rtf or .doc format to those of us who are volunteering to proofread it so we can make corrections easily?

 

BGatot / General Public,

Speaking for every man who works behind the wheel of a truck and that is a spoke in the wheels that moves this GREAT Country.
Please don't look at us as bad people who are about to get drastic and shut the nation down for a few days or week? We are fighting for America.
We are going to do what should have been done 10/15/20 years ago!

This move is a very drastic one and is also a very scary one in a time that our economy is all ready unstable. Our GOAL is pretty simple. Our LEADER is ourselves!

Our brotherhood was once gone but growing very strong and at a very rapid pace in a time like this. Us "truckers" as you call us are way overdue a pay increase in our work place.

Everyone of us who work 60/70 hours a week DO NOT LOG correct in order to abide by LAWS! What the general public Does not see is that the American Trucker " Driver " is pushed everyday by the middle man who pays us. The Brokers who are our LOAD seekers are using us against one another today.

One driver will haul a 40K Load for $.90CPM when another driver who is in really sad shape will haul the SAME load for $.80CPM.

We are TIRED of being used, We are TIRED of the Mr. Pencil also taking a cut of what should be the TRUCKS Moneys IE:FSC% And we are also tired of the high costs of the FUEL that moves this cheap ##### Freight.

Every one of us, Company driver need better paying Employers with benefits that will not kill a mans paycheck for participating in!
And a decent WAGE for his time spent away from his family for months at a time!

The Employers being small or large IE: JBHUNT,SWIFT,PAM,WERNER, Ect.. Have GOT to STOP taking advantage of the rates in which are killing the ones who started this Industry in a whole! RATE CUTTING is OUT of HAND!
If they they Large or SMALL stop cutting rates after the dust settles the drivers of your companies CAN and WILL get a descent wage and benefits that don't KILL his net income. Its LARGE Carriers and the brokers who are
now also fighting among themselves which is KILLING / Eliminating the last of what we call

The Independent Trucker!
These men are the SOUL of this Industry. We give 105% of our time, effort and to our customer. Just like a Company driver! But we are a little different. The TRUCKS we drive, we are PROUD of!

The Trucks have names and those names Stand for something! We dedicate out entire Lives to you! When "WE" Drive we are driving not only drive with our customer in mine but our customers, customer! When we hook/load a customers freight? That NAMED TRUCK is now a division of the customer in which is shipping that freight! We represent that ABC company and WE do it until that customers freight reaches its final destination. "Our" Receiver!

The RECEIVER is not only ABC Companies customer! They are our customer to! We CARE about each and every person on our Manifest IE:Bill of Lading.

See people, When a MAN changes a career and takes the wheel of a BIG TRUCK its not only that man that climbs on board that highway monster, That mans entire FAMILY gets on board with him. Our TRUCKS become part of the family and our Family become part of our industry!

THATS just the way it works! Like it or not!

Now. Back to your question and back on the goals we are GOING to hit.

We are seeking a pay increase, lower costs in fuel, and even possibly limiting the businesses that have their hands in the the middle of this "something" they know nothing about.

NAFTA is also killing "OUR" Industry! We have Trade agreements with Canada our friends up North and Mexico at our southern boarder.

This nation's manufacturing Industry which we HAUL for is at MAX Production! They are busting at the seems with product!

The NAFTA issues we face is the "UNSAFE" NON-compliant, FEDERALLY MANDATED SAFETY, Mexican TRUCKS. And also! The southern Boarder is a ONE WAY STREET!

Mexican Trucks can enter in, but we can not cross that boarder!

We travel deep into Canada and Canada Truckers come DEEP into the States. These Canada drivers we work with every day are just as much a part of this American Industry as we are. But on the other side of the coin the Mexican government refuses to allow the US trucks in its border.

Comments on that one?

We are being taken out slowly and have been now for years. It's time we do something about it and its time we stand for each other.

We need to stop fighting against one another and start fighting for one another!

I read in one drivers post and I'll say it again sense im on a roll like always.

SOON drivers SOON, will we be UNITED WE STAND but DIVIDED WE'LL FALL!

ROLL HARD, BE SAFE and LETS CHANGE OUR INDUSTRY!
All the best,
Matthew Sr.

Sorry I took up your time on my RAMBLE! I was feeling PATRIOTIC! lol








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#1:FUEL costs!

 

I prefer not to deal with pdf files. They are not editable with free software - you have to buy programs to do it.

 

OK so IF the "government" steps in and cuts fuel prices, outlaws brokers and gives you
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a raise, what happens when the next crop of "owner operators" decides that they can haul that load for 10 cents a mile cheaper? This same thing has been going on since the first two guys had trucks. The only way to get more money is not some pie in the sky STRIKE, but to run COMPLIANT, like OOIDA has been saying for years. Run and log legal, the shipper or broker or dispatcher or whoever is the boogie man today can't make you do anything. Don't take a load that won't let you turn a profit, anyone who doesn't understand
this basic principle is part of the problem. If everybody could get together and agree not to
stab each other in the back, it would be a lot more productive and have more positive and

longer lasting results than a strike or shutdown .
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