Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Great points Mick. Fuel prices are in the headlines. Fuel prices is what the majority of the o/o’s understand.

I was talking to an o/o yesterday and he’s talking about parking his truck and driving a company truck. Yet, his truck is paid for, he’s getting good rates and he’s staying mostly busy. He’s doing good, but he wants to park his truck because of fuel prices. He parked his truck when fuel hit $2.50, but he’s back driving. But fuel prices didn’t go down.

What sense does that make?

I think most o/o’s understand this problem, but you wouldn’t know it from all the press and talk about these other idiots. We’re to busy working to waste our time with the stupidity.

Great post as always…

really liked the part about Superman lol made my morning!!

Well I’m off to help the rest of the family get the truck cleaned back up since it’s nice outside

Could not agree more. I, too, am sick to death of the “sound-bite” mentality of a great big segment of this country. CNN tells them the economy is bad and they start wetting their pants. Senator Obama tells them it’s time for “change” and they take to the streets and swoon when he passes by. Never mind the obvious agenda CNN and Obama share, that would require a little deep thought.
The dollar is down, the money is out of the usual markets and into oil. Oil is a commodity just like pork bellies and the price has been bid up. It’s called capitalism. Solution: Put one drilling rig in ANWAR and see what happens to the price of oil per barrel. I’ll bet my bottom dollar it goes down faster than the gas gauge on a Hummer in a head wind.
Truckers take heart, the economy of capitalism will straighten this problem out if we can keep the brain dead politicians out of our business.

This is an issue effecting all of us and we MUST take a stand NOW. Our government IS a major contributing factor in the outrageous price of fuel, and the struggle American citizens are experiencing making ends meet. We must take action to get their attention. All other avenues has only fallen on deaf ears - our government is ignoring the will, and needs, of the American people.

In The Last Year
(88,000 Jobs Lost)
(2 Million American Citizens Lost Their Homes)
(28 Million American Citizens Projected To Be On Food Stamp Programs)

Our government officials are eating good dinners, are living in beautiful homes, are driving brand new vehicles and are collecting large salaries…on the American Citizen’s dollar. It’s time to take our country back.

STAND UP, SPEAK OUT OR ACCEPT WHAT COMES!!!

http://www.theamericandriver.com/files/TruckersAndCitizensUnited.html

Why is it that no one can post where they are getting these facts from??

Still not supporting a strike because a strike doesn’t support my family.

What a great post. Each of your posts regarding the so-called trucker’s strike has been filled with truth and logic whereas I’ve yet to read a pro-strike post by anyone, anywhere, that includes either; let alone both. I’ve also yet to read a pro-strike post that indicates the writer has even an inkling of a plan or, for that matter, goal. What, exactly, is the strike supposed to achieve? How, exactly, is a strike supposed to bring about lower fuel prices? How’s a strike supposed to bring about higher freight rates?

Once again, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The strike is little more than a temper tantrum thrown out of a frustration with the driver’s/striker’s inability to clearly communicate needs, wants, problems and solutions or understand the circumstances in which they find themselves; as well as the causes and consequences of those circumstances. It’s the reason two year old children throw tantrums and, it seems to me, it’s the reason some drivers are resorting to what amounts to a tantrum now.

No thought, no goal, no plan; just noise. To paraphrase “The Scottish Play”:

The strike’s “but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5)

I agree on most points. Great post that took some thought, which can be rare when the words “truckers strike” are involved.

I hadn’t thought much about the big brother aspect, but they are dying to sell us all those gizmos on a legally
needed basis. Shut down vital services and watch them go into a frenzy over it. Combine shut down vitals from a minority of disgruntled folks along with the terrorist threat of a commercial vehicle, now you’ve got all the reason they need. Washington folks from both sides of the aisle drool over the chance to get in early on stock options for companies to service millions of vehicles. They might even give a million dollar speech at a company dinner for some lucky company that gets a contract.

However, I disagree with blaming the political parties. I don’t disagree that the politicians have played a part in the problem, but we elected them and we knew how they will act based on their parties and their affiliations.

For example, you mentioned the colleges and their lame classes. You are very correct that they are a problem, but the politicians act on the will of the people who give them money. Colleges, their alumni, and the companies depending on the graduates to fill positions give that money to them and largely dictate what is taught. The same goes for virtually everything government does. The aggression should be directed to the supporters of those politicians and very poor educational practices.

I’ve watched political changes quite a bit and it’s a game of whack-a-mole. Get rid of one and another is happy to do the same deeds. It’s been this way for a long time. Different parties are partial to different companies and groups, but the deeds are the same. The bickering between the parties seems to just be diversion from what’s really happening.

So when basket weaving gets the grants go after the basket makers. By the way, Longaberger, a large basket maker, is a very profitable business in my hometown. They actually want basket weavering classes funded by the government and they get grants for highways to their factory and other government support, believe it or not. It is insane that an ornamental basket company should receive any help at all from the government, but when they don’t get it, they start talking huge layoffs, so the politicians bend. When oil companies get grants, then misuse the money, we need to write them and expose them too. The politician could care less, unless you’ll send a donation to his campaign.

It’s suppose to be a free market and companies have learned that you knock out the competition with government grants to your favor and legislation against your competition. Look at everything the ATA does for examples of this in action. Write ATA companies and post what they are doing anywhere you can. Expose them. Follow suit with other companies receiving government welfare and begging for legislation.

You watch who the winners are in these “truckers strikes”. Look at who the winners support both directly and indirectly. Campaign contributions are a drop in the bucket. You have to look at who is having these politicians speak for big money, who these politicians families are doing business with, and any other financial connects. Yes, Google is your friend.

When you have drivers that care so little about their own business that they will enter lease contracts without even reading them, it’s just a matter of playing to their whims to get them to do whatever you want. I believe now that you can even talk them into committing business suicide to get out of your way. How many drivers have been looking for a smarter way to run, and I don’t mean fuel boosters pills or oil additives? How many have thought that they may need reserves for a day like this, and if they weren’t earning enough to get them, get out before things get worse?