Over 500,000 independent / Owner Operator truck drivers out
there on the road today. The rise of fuel costs are astronomical. The cost to
fuel a semi tuck can be upward to a thousand dollars, every time the truck needs
to be filled up at a cost of $4.73 per gallon. A lot of shippers and brokers
refuse to pay some or all of the the fuel surcharge. Other rising
costs include tires oil changes and preventive maintenance that all are
connected to the rise in oil prices, and cost the independent / owner operator
extra dollars over past 9 years. Actual real & true Miles Shipper door to
Receivers door paid. Industry standard seems to be Air Miles down roads or
routes restricted from trucks. It needs to be a felony for anyone paying on PC
Miler / Movers Atlas system, anyone else in this country would be charged with a
crime for sealing the kind of money lost for unpaid miles. These miles often can
be up to 20 % off, that's 100 to 200 unpaid miles on a 1000 mile trip. or A
minimum wage for drivers, freight rates and needs to be set. 70 hour 34
restart hurts too, should reset in 18-24 hours. Sometimes its the next day when
you get a back haul. Restarts of 34 hours is best spent at home with Family /
Friends VS a truck stop 2000 miles from home. The 14 hour on duty, 8 hrs
sleeper, 2 hour break, work day needs to be more flexible to the real world. The
old way with split sleeper made more sense. The Canada way 13 hr drive time 8
Hour split sleeper would work.
If you choose to shut your truck down Leave it in a Rest
Area or Truck Stop, instead of your home or company lot. This prevents the
drivers who refuse to join the movement from finding places to rest. If
you choose to drive, choose the "Speed Minimum" In most states the minimum
is 40 to 45, keep in the slow lane. A few trucks in most major cities choosing
this will slow everybody down. Its like Rubber Necker's at a accident they slow
too see what's going on. In Atlanta Georgia where the speed limit is 55 and
traffic typically can be 80 when its not rush hour. a few years ago. a group of
college students ran a rolling road block on one of the major interstates at 55
mph. This according to the Georgia State Police wan in no way considered
illegal, there is no laws against obstructing traffic. The students caused a
huge backup.
One thing that I do want to express to everyone on the
road, keep it safe for this shut down. There is no way to tell how effective
this will be, but lets be positive. Radio Rambo's are out there, ignore them,
listen to XM. Some companies are shutting down. The major ones are not.
The ATA & OOIDA have made no official support for the cause. A press release by
OOIDA was made (
http://www.landlinemag.com ) in discussion on the subject. Show your
support, shut down and stand up for what you believe in. Without Trucks America
Stops!
For all the drivers out there stay safe and the Rubber side
down. You guys will be in my thoughts and prayers. Only YOU can make this
happen, thanks for all the support.
April 1st they shut them down!
Miami PD shut it down
http://www.myspace.com/truckerstrike08
http://etrucker.com
