Posted on Apr 01, 2008 - 2:15am by Everitt Mickey in Trucking
As Mr. Miller so politely mentioned in comments to a previous post..
GET WITH IT, If you haven’t realized it yet, there are a hell of a lot of better web sites than this, you should check some out, you might learn something new! For starters go to topix.com truckers forum and click away…oh ya, you’ll find your kind over there too, but they don’t fair well!!
..folks are upset about the hike in energy prices…and the resulting rise in the cost of consumer goods. He directed us to these scholarly individuals who are diligently working on the problem.
For example…one erudite observer of the industry so succinctly stated.
“WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING FAST PLEASE LET STICK TOGETHER FOR ONCE AND SHUT THEM DOWN.”
I, personally, thought that was very insightful and well thought out. Then there is this advice from another advocate of our free market system.
“we are the modern day slaves of rich bastards that been grinding us for too long….We are donkeys of the third world countries…what happened to our pride. How long can we keep working dirt cheap…Lets unite are we just to dumb. lets unite and shut down not foe a week or a month..I mean like 6 month…let the bastards beg to us.”
Not altogether specific but I’m sure it would work. If we could just determine who “them” is.
There may be some hope. It comes from Congress. Congress has a lot of experience with dishonesty…double dealing and skimming off the top. Due to this vast experience and knowledge they can notice the obvious pretty quickly. In a press release or newspaper account that I can’t find attribution far supposedly it is said that:
Congressman John Larson (D-Conn.) and 11 associations representing petroleum marketers are calling for the U.S. government to reform the energy commodities market, charging that financial institutions’ use of derivatives as investment tools is distorting fuel markets to the disadvantage of consumers
Well “Duh”.
This is somewhat similar to Freight Brokers “skimming off the top” and freight companies brokering “in-house” a time or two before offering the load to their O/O’s. It’s wonderful to know that the good congressman is on top of things…timely too.
Additionally, the marketing associations (representing 3,500 companies who
serve 20 million consumers) are asking Congress to hold hearings “aimed at
restricting the daily buying and selling of crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel
and heating oil to only those entities capable of accepting delivery of the
actual energy itself,” they said in a statement.
“This would help prevent energy commodities from being used by investment
banks and hedge funds as investment tools that inflate the price of energy to
the American people,”
Imagine that. Not being allowed to buy unless physically capable of taking delivery. That would be nice in trucking too.
For more info from the good congressman you might check out his web site. After reading some of the congressman’s rant considered opinions I’m not sure which website has the best advice….his or Mr. Miller’s. Both will do equally well in these troubled times I’m sure.
All in all it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that such reasoned individuals, groups and institutions are looking out for my welfare.
I can sleep well tonight because of it.
First certified carrier crosses border to initiate Demonstration program
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I stopped for fuel today and truckers were huddled all over a CNN newscast that was hyping the “strike” for all it could.
I don’t know about the rest of the country, but Ohio was bustling with trucks today. Why has the media hyped all of this so much? I’m guessing to make more things look like President Bush’s fault. They were doing it with all of the bravado and cheer that they do other disasters.
It makes me worry what the nut cases are going to do out there. The media in general makes me worry about what they can propel stupid people to do. I’m also trying to run a tight ship here as I noticed WAY to many state troopers on the roads. They’re obviously worried about something.
I agree with you regarding the media.
Sharks. That’s what they are….or piranhas. At the smell of blood they go into a feeding frenzy. IF it’s the right kind of blood….otherwise they ignore it. It would seem that for the last few years everything, as you say, has been geared to making Bush look bad. Those poor foolish dupes who are engaged in a “truck strike” are doing the media a favor. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised (GASP…..conspiracy theory coming up) if the so-called strike wasn’t the idea OF the media…helped along by a few foolish dupes.
I hear that’s not a new thing with the media. Something about Randolph Hearst and the Spanish American war comes to mind.
Oh well….I’m beat….I had a bad day….nite all.
I wouldn’t consider it a conspiracy to think that the ATA would push some money to a few media agencies to prompt a strike to increase the speed of independents going out of business. The ATA probably isn’t even interested in removing all of the independents, just enough that they can have full control over their large accounts like Wal-Mart and the like.
The media reports I’ve read are claiming it was all started by one trucker’s website. I can find 100 sites that all want to start a strike, I don’t know how the pinpointed it to just one.
Like I ‘ve said before, you guys OH FORGET IT.
I’ll just keep rolling along wanting for the HERD TO THIN, hoping to make it thur…………….
I guess I just don’t get it
OH I just wanted to feed to that conspiracy theory not mine but read it…
This whole situation has been planned by the GOVERNMENT to eliminate the INDEPENDENT TRUCKER….
the plan includes the some of the 14 million illegal mexes to be forced into drive truck for low wages or be shot for entering the country illegally.
The top 5 trk. comp. have all that equipment setting in their yards ready to go.
ALSO the Government has a force of thousands of RUSSIANS AND CHINESE TROOP WAITING TO BE PLACED IN THE COUNTRY TO CONTROL THE MASSES WHEN MARSHAL LAW IS DECLARED…
This is the good part, there are closed military bases that have been turned into concentration camps, to handle the resisistors, they will be railed in by boxcar supplied by the rail roads that is deeply subsidised by the government, along with the TOP TRUCKING CO.
HENCE THE NATIONALT DEBT TO COMMEY CHINA…….OMG
AND THEY CALL ME CRAZY…………..
Mr Miller said:
“This is the good part, there are closed military bases that have been turned into concentration camps, to handle the resisistors, they will be railed in by boxcar supplied by the rail roads that is deeply subsidised by the government, along with the TOP TRUCKING CO.
HENCE THE NATIONALT DEBT TO COMMEY CHINA…….OMG
AND THEY CALL ME CRAZY…………..”
Now now…be calm. Take a deep breath and sit down.
Have you been taking your medicine?
Why would anyone call you Crazy?
Wow, I thought you didn’t like coming here, yet here you are again. Amazing - for not liking this place you sure are here a lot.
I’m so glad that you are an insider and can tell us exactly what the military is doing with those closed bases. Especially considering the fact that some of us have family or were in the military. Or maybe the fact that we live near a closed base.
Oh wait - I DO live near a closed base….and you know what? They made it into a park. You know one of those things were families can go and camp, cookout, fish. There’s even a golf course.
Wow, I wonder what the government will do with you when they discover you have spilled their “secrets?”
…
Ok, now that I’m finished laughing.
Thanks for visiting us again!
Nobody is promised anything when they get into trucking. It doesn’t take an M.B.A. to realize that companies that lease owner operators or worse yet lease the cost of running their buisiness to the ignorant aka lease operators are doing it to cut costs and make more profit. Pure economics would dictate that if it costs a $1 a mile to run the truck then don’t take freight that only pays .98 per mile. How are the oil companies responsible for people not knowing how to run their business and working themselves into a hole? There is an overcapacity now with the economy slowing so that is going to put strong downward pressure on the rates, many operators are going to go out of buisiness. The fuel could be free and they would still lose money because the rates are just going to keep going down until the demand for trucking service picks up. why do you think some of the big players parked 500 to a 1000 trucks each? they knew they couldn’t keep them rolling at a profit. Bottom line it is still and always will be a buisiness and not a lifestyle. Fuel is just another cost of operation
Thanks. I knew I wasn’t the only one that thought like that! Drivers that think like that are probably the majority of us, but you’d never know it looking around at the other sites. Stop by anytime.