Need Help With An Idea

great idea, but driving a fuel tanker I'm not looking forward to being the guy at the rear of the line when the guy doin 75 catches up. heehee

 

Im a recent CDL graduate from private school, last year some time, i forget when, but regular gas, for 4-wheelers, was a high of around 315-360 in my area, well, all over the radio and the news and the internet people were talking about a " gas strike ", on a certain day, Wed. the middle of the week when most people are at work, well, as we can all tell that did absolutly nothing for out country to bring the gas prices down, heck i had to choice but to fill up that day, what im getting at is that it was sooo um-planned, it should have been- choose one major gas station and that one ONLY, and if everyone in the US didnt bye gas that day, MAYBE, MAYBE MAYBE somthing could have been done, highly doubt-full.
im currently searching for an OTR job, most likly with one of the mega companies, werener swift schnieder etc. only cause i have a speeding ticket in my past that is with-in the past 3 years, but im worried that when i get a year of exp. otr i will be saddend to find out that one of the smaller companies iw ant to work for ill have already gone down with the high fuel prices.
but i dont understand how anyone could think that there would be any type of stike, shutdown, convoy. some guys cant afford to stop pully fraight with the cost of the fuel, there truck payment, insurence, etc...
as earlier stated, im a recent cdl grad, and dont no everything there is to no, however i do my far share of reading on a daily basis to keep up with the trucking industry.
Also, as far as running in a convoy, i no that the state of Flardia trucks are not allowed to run convoy, and there not supposed to drive with-in a certain distance of eachother, other then to pass, exiting the highway's, truck stops and DOT houses
be easy on me, im a newbie still learning the in's & out's here.

 

Up here in Canada, a gas strike was tried once and it targeted a particular chain many years ago before my time. The targeting was very successful but it had no impact on gas prices going down...quite the reverse. No matter what chain you target, the fact is that they all buy their gas from a select few major suppliers.

Gas strikes don't work because even if people abide by the strike and refuse to purchase gas on a particular day, the only thing that is truly expected is that tomorrow will be a busy day at the pumps.

If people want to have an effect on gas prices, whether it be for commercial drivers or four wheelers, we have to look to other sources of energy for powering our vehicles or drastically change our driving habits. no more driving a block away to pick up the kids or something. I don't drive four blocks to the sub shop anymore...but then I haven't gone to the sub shop in a while since I made that decision so perhaps I'll fold on that one.

Imagine crack addicts refusing to buy crack on a particular day nation wide. Crack dealers would just enjoy their day off and expect a rush the next day. Heck, they might even jack up the prices that day because of the increased demand within that particular time frame.

We're just addicted dude.

Cheers

 

Sockermoms? Lol. I'll assume you are attempting to write "soccermom".
So, Mr. Animal, are you going to lead this revolt?

 

The companies that produce our fuels don't set the prices. Nope, and it's not really priced by our dear friends in the Middle East, Venezuala, or, even Southeast Texas. The refineries, the tank terminals, nor, the mega-retailers have very little to do with the pricing of fuels.

The ugly truth is, the prices are determined by a bunch of Wall Street fat cats who trade in commodity futures. It is these, smarter than thee and me, traders who have driven the price of crude oil to over $100 a barrel by continually bidding the price upward.

Have no fear. Their bubble will burst. It always does and some of them that "bet" the wrong way will get soaked. Prices will come down within six months, but, by then a lot of damage will have been done.

 

I personally don't agree with a total, truck shut-down. The only thing that's going to do is totally wreck the economy to the point that EVERYONE is going to get the shaft. I mean, if the goal is to wipe out the U.S. economy, then go for it. You're going to end up in a much worse financial condition than you are now, that's a fact. You know, back in the days when people brought wheelbarrows full of cash to buy a couple of loaves of bread?
As far as fuel prices are concerned, it's up the American Consuming Public to stop buying gas-guzzling SUV's, consolidate trips to stores and such, car-pool, take the bus/train/whatever, do whatever it takes to lower the demand on the supply. Walk, ride the bike if possible - but is that really going to happen? Hmmmm - maybe if gas gets to the 4 or 5 buck per gallon mark. I can barely afford it as it is - and I do almost all of my shopping on the way to or from work. My next step - if all this continues - is to get a motorcycle to ride to work. I tried to set up a car pool, but just couldn't find anyone going the same direction I am at the time in the morning I'm headed that way. Not as many people are up and going to work at 5am. I can't take the bus - they don't start early enough to get me to work on time. I have toyed with the idea of riding a bike - it's 14 miles one way to work. If the situation gets bad enough, the toying will be over and I will be getting into even better shape than I am now!

As far as driver wages, easier said than done. Quit working for the big, giant, cheap companies. Too many people want into the "easy" world of truck-driving, those companies make it easy to get into it, apparently almost impossible to get back out - at least until you've paid your tuition. It isn't going to happen that way, obviously. I have no answers for that question. I simply won't work for less than X amount per year, regardless of the economy. To do so leaves me going broke, losing my house, and not having a very happy life : ( As long as there is a steady stream, more like river, of people going into those companies, the situation is going to continue to exist.

Still, I simply don't see shutting down the trucks as a viable answer, the resulting chaos wouldn't seem to me the intended result?

 

Actually, the fuel prices are so high because the stock market price per barrel is being driven up by speculation, if it were put onto the open market (which it should be) the price would drop by 33% on the barrel immediately.

 

Actually the stock market and options market is open the public, thus open market
Or did miss understand you??

 

Hi all. First things first... my husband and I just got home from our cross country trip. We both have a newfound respect for truckers. You guys are so important to this country, and are completely underappreciated. So, for what it's worth, thank you. Seriously. Thanks.

I found this website in my search for a website like this, to pose a question about a truck strike, and you guys beat me to it!

I have a few questions. First, seeing as how you guys keep this country humming along, do you not feel that you hold the cards? And in keeping with this theme, don't we, the CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, hold the cards? We're doing a terrible job at voting in quality employees to office, I admit that. But don't forget, WE pay THEM. We pay them alot of ###### money, and on a daily basis, they're (for the most part) fulfilling their own agendas. When are we going to start holding people accountable? We hired 'em, we can fire 'em, right? When did we become so afraid? The last people I expected total submission from is our truckers and other necessary blue collar workers across this once great nation. People are actually afraid of the buffoons in office? Total joke.

Ok, I'm sorry to rant, and back to the question that spurred me onto this site: Seeing as ONE SINGLE OIL COMPANY had 11 BILLION dollars in profit last year, no one feels that the price of gas could have been lower if said company had just absorbed pennies per gallon out of their profits? And no one gets mad? This is something no one seems to get fired up about. Oh sure, people complain to one another, but who really DOES anything? The same people that complain are usually the same people that beat their chest and say America is the best country in the world, and that decry once meant something that it does not today. Subsequently, if truckers organized a major, nationwide strike, would prices NOT drop? Wouldn't politicians have to get involved at that point? It's so sad that WE THE PEOPLE, and YOU THE TRUCKERS can't unite on this issue. I've seen comments on companies undercutting companies if someone were to go on strike, and oh how hard it would be to get everyone to agree to it. Has anyone tried? Have leaders and bosses called OTHER leaders and bosses? I feel that if our founding fathers had the attitudes of our current citizenship, we'd still be hailing the queen. Please, I beg for feedback.

 

I agree with you 2xR. It's like anything else on the markets. Look what happened to houses in Vegas. The speculators caused the prices to shoot upwards like the prices in CA. They can only sustain their highs for so long and the bottom fell.

Commodities like corn, wheat, rice, cattle, even O.J., can sustain high levels for so long before the Law of Supply and Demand takes effect.