Grocery stores would run out of food in 3 days if truckers protested

There’s never going to be a nationwide strike, for any reason. OOIDA will never support one either. That’s why they’re allowed to exist.

One segment goes down, another steps in to pick up the slack. Disaster diverted.

If anyone is concerned about a grocery store running out of groceries after 3 days. I’ll say it, your priorities in life are in the wrong place.

 

Don't need a nationwide strike. The easiest way to get real attention is a meaningful boycott where enough carriers would refuse to go to any point east of I-81 and north of I-64, or to California, for 1 month. Yes. I realize this is a pipe dream, but it's much easier to do something like this than a national strike and you would get a lot of people's attention nationally, while still making a little money (for most who don't live in the northeast or California)

You think of all the problems we deal with, 95% of them are due to bureaucrats in California and the northeastern corridor and DC

 

Places like NYC relies on hundreds if not a few thousand trucks per night for fresh food. I should know, I was part of that for years.

I say the people who wish to strike have the wrong outlook in life. The Federal HOS is what it is and that's that, set in stone. If you cannot make a dollar running with the current framework electronic or paper, then you really don't belong in this industry. 70 hours is sufficient to get across USA one time as a solo or twice as a team.

I choose not to worry about the store running out, but rather consider the provisions on hand at the house and try to improve upon it weekly. If my weight is any indication, there is no shortage of food.

 

Trucking has changed and will continue to change . Even if you could get enough drivers to stand together it won't help. The best you would get is "we are forming a committee to examine the problem" and guess what... Nothing changes. Long haul trucking wil eventually be done entirely by driverless trucks. The only driving jobs will be final mile deliveries. The rule makers don't care about you and the mega carriers who pay the lobbyist don't care about you. They see drivers as a problem and an expense they would like to get rid of in order to increase their profit margins.

 

Take a worthwhile course like getting per diem back for company drivers then more drivers would join in

 

I think I understand what you’re saying but I think what you mean is giving company drivers back the ability to itemize meal and other job related expenses that was eliminated in the 2018 tax/jobs act that might still exceed the new higher standard deduction.

“Per diem” was never eliminated because the word “per diem” never existed in the tax code [as it pertains to individual tax filing] in any context but this is a common misunderstanding.