I’d love to see a successful trucker’s boycott of NYC. I just doubt it’s possible. A friend of mine runs a small trucking company. 30-40% of his business runs into the NYC market. And when I say market, I mean within a 100 mile radius of NYC. If all his drivers suddenly refuse NYC, he’s out of business, and they’re out of a job. I’d say most of them are Trump voters, including the owner.
The point is, a good number of drivers, or for that matter small trucking companies, are in no position to refuse loads to NYC, no matter how much they want to. I applaud the owner-operators who are able to turn down the stray long distance load into NYC. Good for them; screw NYC. However, much of the truck traffic into NYC is regional, and those drivers’ livelihoods depend on NYC freight.
I think it can. However, you identified a good point!
Hypothetically, let’s model this similarly to the Berlin blockade. The US (primarily) was able to supply Berlin (pop est 2.25 million) via air transport. I can’t see that happening in NYC. Now the product mix is different today vs. Berlin as IIRC, we even had to transport coal into Berlin for energy generation. In the case of NYC, roads are open and you won’t have hostile aircraft harassing any inbound cargo planes.
But in NYC, there is a very large population (pop est 8.5 million) increasing due to the illegals, that generates a growing demand for goods. That requires a growing demand for transportation to deliver those goods. I’m making the assumption that truck transportation into the city is reasonably close to full loads. Even if the amount of transportation due to the boycott just flatlines, net supply should decrease.
Regarding your correct comment regarding regional traffic, if...someone wanted to implement the boycott, they would focus more on the distribution centers in the region that then supply NYC. Restrict deliveries to those distribution centers, and even if all the regional drivers are still working, they will run out of goods to deliver.
My 1 1/2 cents,
It’s not the boycott that’s going to cause damage, it’s the threat of boycott and resulting panic.
If just a small number of truckers start the boycott and the word gets out that there could be food storage and the citizens rush the stores, that is what will cause chaos.
“ small trucking companies, are in no position to refuse loads to NYC, no matter how much they want to”
That is probably true. However, they can start jacking up their prices. Drivers can demand more pay to go there. Drivers can go 5 under the speed limit the whole distance.