April 28 convoy to Washington, DC, will protest fuel prices

Land Line Magazine ^ | April 25, 2008 | Clarissa Kell-Holland

[Pete-R-Bilt]

April 28 convoy to Washington, DC, will protest fuel prices

As a rocky economy continues to beat up the trucking industry, many truckers around the country are banding together to show their outrage at high fuel prices and how they are struggling to just break even.

OOIDA members Michael “JB” Schaffner of Nocona, TX, is one of the organizers of a national truck convoy and rally scheduled for Monday, April 28, in Washington, DC. The group is protesting rising fuel costs and how they are negatively affecting the entire economy. Click here for rally and route information.

“People need to wake up and be aware of the things that are happening right in front of their faces and this is the reason we are doing this,” Schaffner told Land Line on Friday, April 25.

“But, we also want to do this right – we don’t condone any of the actions that may have taken place in the past regarding some protests. We’re not asking people to shoot at people or throw rocks, we’ve come up with alternative ideas for people, like flying the American flag, to show their support.”

Some truckers simply can’t afford the fuel they would need to convoy to DC on Monday, but Schaffner said no trucker will be alienated if they can’t participate in the protest.

“We aren’t going to force anyone to choose between their jobs and their families to join with us – some just can’t do it and that’s OK,” he said. “However, many of us are choosing to do this because of our families.”

For truckers who can’t physically be there, Schaffner said he is encouraging them to show their support in other ways by picking up the phone.

“We are encouraging everyone to contact their local media and also to call their congressmen and senators to let them know you are protesting high fuel prices and that something needs to be done to help us all soon.”

He said another organizer of the event, OOIDA member Mark Kirsch of Myerstown, PA, has been in contact with truckers from as many as 27 states that plan to participate in the convoy to DC on Monday. Kirsch organized a convoy to the Pennsylvania state Capitol building in Harrisburg on Monday, March 31, that gained the attention of Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who invited Kirsch and other truckers to discuss some of the issues they are facing as fuel prices continue to soar.

A second convoy, this one to New York City, has been planned for Thursday, May 1, according to Schaffner. He said they have received a permit to convoy there, but have not yet finalized all of the details as of press time.

– By Clarissa Kell-Holland, staff writer

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Additional info

On April 28, truckers from 24 states plan to take their protest of high fuel prices to Washington, D.C. Rallies to plan for the event are scheduled at 2 p.m. April 26 at the Gables Truck top off Interstate 81 in West Hanover Twp.

Trucker Mark Kirsch said four buses have been chartered for people who don't want to drive to D.C. He said passengers will board at 5 a.m. at the All-American Truck Stop off the Frystown exit of I-81 and at 5:30 a.m. the Gables.

Truckers plan to parade through Washington before making their way to the White House. For information on the rally or to purchase bus tickets, call Kirsch at 717-821-2013; Leon Martin at 507-6587; or Ron Wenger at 821-6237.

[Pete-R-Bilt]

I'm not gonna express an opinion for or against these guys. Desperation makes us do what we think we have too.

But anyone within 100 miles of D. C. had better get ready on Monday, this is building steam... Fast

Truckers gear up for fuel-price protest in D.C.

By Nick Sambides Jr.
Friday, April 11, 2008 - Bangor Daily News

LINCOLN, Maine — The Coalition to Lower Fuel Prices hopes to roll on Washington, D.C., later this month as part of a national truckers rally and is holding a meeting Sunday to gear up for it.

The grass-roots coalition, which has four truckers aid bills it initiated in the State House, including a temporary sales tax repeal almost set to pass, wants to contribute to a rolling rally on the nation’s capital, tentatively scheduled for April 28.

"It is going to come down to who can afford to go," coalition co-founder Belinda Raymond of Kingman said Wednesday. "We are going to ask that if there are larger companies that would sponsor a truck that wants to go, that might be helpful."

Nationwide, trucker protests have been continual but disorganized, unified only in their cause: diesel fuel prices that average about $4 a gallon nationally and go as high as $4.25 per gallon in Maine, according to mainegasprices.com.

In Nebraska, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia, truckers have held or are organizing strikes, rolls on state capitals, slowdowns on interstate roads or truck shutdowns alongside them as protests. The unified D.C. protest might be the largest display yet.

"The trucking industry is uniting across the nation to send a message to the president that things have got to change. Diesel prices are killing everybody — airlines, everybody — and things have got to change," Raymond said.

The coalition will meet at the Knights of Columbus Hall off Route 6 at 9 a.m. Sunday to drum up support for the Washington protest and to update members as to how the bills are doing, Raymond said. The public is invited.

In Maine, forest products industry truckers — who make up much of the coalition’s membership — are the connective tissue of the state’s forest products industry, hauling product from woods to mills to market. The industry is worth an estimated $11 billion to Maine’s economy annually.

Higher diesel prices have caused at least 50 independent Maine haulers to park their trucks, sparking fears that a lack of trucks could create a lack of raw materials for mills, according to the coalition.

In response to coalition efforts, legislators are working on bills that would repeal state fuel sales taxes, temporarily repeal sales taxes on forest products equipment and parts purchases, increase overall and per-axle truck weight limits, and restructure the fining system for truckers.

The bill refunding sales taxes on purchases of parts and supplies for forest products industry truckers unanimously passed the state House on Wednesday. It is expected to pass the state Senate by Friday. As amended, the refund would be retroactive to April 1 and discontinued on Oct. 1, 2008.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elizabeth Schneider, D-Orono, was pleased that it was headed for passage. She was less hopeful about the state fuel tax repeal, saying that, as first proposed, it would effectively deny Maine $7 million in revenue when the state is facing record shortfalls.

"I’ve worked hard to get it funded, but clearly [lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee] are not going to fund $7 million for this," Schneider said Wednesday.

She hopes to dial down the bill’s scope to a more manageable $1 million, she said.

[bill1952]

Yeah, its our fault.

Drill offshore Florida, in the Gulf, and the West Coast.
Drill Alaska.
Build refineries.
Build more refineries.
Build nuclear power plants everywhere. - Like they do in France.

99 cent oil. - Want it?

[diverteach]

Although I feel thier pain, the fuel being burnt to convoy will be wasted.

[livius]

Fuel prices are bad, but I’d bet this was organized by the Dems, who have begun to criticize Bush for not opening the strategic petroleum reserves. Of course, one reason they’re called “strategic” is that they ARE strategic, and shouldn’t be opened simply because of a price hike.

On the other hand, if the truckers would demand drilling in ANWAR and development of our domestic supply, they’d be doing us all a great favor. But they won’t, because that’s not what the Dems want.

[Pete-R-Bilt]

lots of whats going on in the ind.

http://www.700wlw.com/pages/onair_stevesommers.html

[the invisib1e hand]

Convoy...

Like wide ties and bell bottoms there really is a 30 year cycle.

We're out of the 60's and into the 70's now.

Maybe I'll get to see the '80's again. That would be nice.

[CharlesWayneCT]

They shouldn’t come here, our fuel prices are probably higher than wherever they are coming from, and our traffic is a nightmare so they’ll just burn up more money sitting still for hours on end.

It sounds like we need to get gas prices up some more, so people like this can’t afford to waste good gas driving around protesting stuff :-)

[yankeedame]

Excellent observation(s)! I, for one, had not thought of that angle. Hummmm....

"April 28 convoy to Washington, DC, will protest fuel prices"

How many o/o truckers can afford to take the time off to drive to DC -- with empty trucks, protest, and then drive back home -- with empty trucks?

[aft_lizard]

Yep and so will their breath. They will accomplish nothing accept getting on TV.

[Past Your Eyes]

Yeah, that’ll show ‘em (whoever “’em” is).

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Funny how you should mention things be cyclical

February 22, 2000, not quite the eighties but...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hundreds of independent truck drivers upset with the soaring cost of diesel fuel brought their complaints to Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Police estimated as many as 300 rigs lined the National Mall for the demonstration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Blasting their horns and displaying banners such as "Save our economy, lower fuel prices and taxes," truckers brought much of central Washington traffic to a standstill.

"Oil cartels are holding our nation hostage, and we are paying the ransom," said Douglas Sorantino, a New Jersey independent dump truck driver.

 VIDEO

CNN's Kathleen Koch reports on the convoy and the reason behind it.
Real
Windows Media

	AUDIO

	MESSAGE BOARD
Rising oil prices

	ALSO
DaimlerChrysler unveils high fuel economy sedan

The drivers, mostly from mid-Atlantic states, including New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland, said a spike in prices for diesel fuel threatens to put them out of business.

Independent drivers are generally paid a flat fee for cargo delivery, along with a mileage charge they say has not kept pace with rapidly rising fuel costs.

The National Owner Operator Trucking Association (NOOTA), one of the main organizers of the protest, said drivers want a rollback of a 24-cents-per-gallon excise tax on fuel and a 15 percent fuel rebate on every gallon of diesel fuel sold.

"The aim is to get the price back to last May's price of about a $1 a gallon," said Charles Hentz, director of media relations for NOOTA.

Colorado senator to seek relief

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colorado, was among the lawmakers who turned out in support. "If your rigs stop rolling, this nation stops rolling," he told the crowd, promising to push for relief.

Campbell, who has a commercial truck driver's license and operates a vintage 1953 tractor-trailer for pleasure, said he could relate to the economic hardship independent drivers face. Each fill-up can now costs as much as $450.

After the rally ended, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota told reporters, "I think they make a point. They're losing money and in some cases going bankrupt."

Daschle said the high fuel costs are "killing the small independent trucker and we've got to find ways to give them some relief."

Many lawmakers were not in town. Although the Senate returned Tuesday from its President's Day recess, the House is not returning until February 29.

Diesel price nears $2 a gallon

The Energy Department reported last week that the average national price for diesel fuel was $1.46 a gallon. Diesel prices in New England were the most expensive at $1.93 a gallon and cheapest along the Gulf Coast at $1.39.

The high prices have forced many independent owner-operators to park their rigs, according to the American Trucking Association. The freight hauler trade group has taken no position on the demonstration.

"It used to cost an owner-operator $220 to go a distance, now it costs $500," said Jackquie Medaglia, whose husband is a second-generation owner-operator.

The Washington protest followed similar ones in Miami last week over soaring fuel and insurance costs. In Canada, hundreds of truckers blocked major roads and disrupted traffic Monday.

White House: Tax is 'appropriate'

The Washington protesters vented anger at the Clinton administration and Congress, accusing them of not doing enough to help. The drivers demanded action not only to tap emergency oil stockpiles, but to use some of a record budget surplus to help them out of their crisis.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said diesel prices should decline in the coming weeks as pressure to deliver heating oil to winter-weary consumers eases. He said calls for tax rollbacks would not solve the problem.

"The tax is set at what the Congress and the president believe is an appropriate level to help," Lockhart said, adding that part of the excise tax revenues generated are earmarked for the highway trust fund.

U.S. lawmakers have urged Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to make it clear to other oil producing nations that Washington is ready to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which holds 569 million barrels.

Richardson, traveling in the Middle East and Europe this week, hopes to persuade OPEC and major oil producing nations to pump more oil.

Gulf Arab oil ministers are due to hold a crucial meeting in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, just days before Richardson is due to arrive.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

Correct. Fully attack the “environmentalist wackos”! They are the true reason for the high gas prices!

[Mogollon]

Bumper Sticker:

Vote DemocRAT...if you like skyhigh fuel prices.

[umgud]

Much of this protest is misguided. Truckers aren’t suffering from high fuel prices. They’re suffering because they aren’t getting fuel surcharge dollars.

We run about 250 of our own trucks. We add a fuel surcharge to all invoices to our customers. Diesel can go to $6/gal and we’ll just increase the fuel surcharge. We pass this fuel surcharge down to our subhaulers too.

The problem is that everybody charges fuel surcharges, but too many don’t pass it on to subhaulers. These truckers need to be protesting their brokers.

[Pete-R-Bilt]

finally someone who gets it.

Thank you

I just raised my rates by about 24 percent

I don’t use brokers, they are useless scum who are cheating guys that til recently haven’t had a clue what thier hard costs are let alone what they should be charging to haul

as for them gattin a surcharge from the brokers, who cares what the brokers are getting, if a driver tells the broker he needs “X” to haul a load and the broker gives it to him too bad if the brokers making a poopfull more

the driver got what he asked for. let bad businessmen die, it makes those of us who survive stronger...

and richer!!!

[Bommer]

Doubt this would do any good, and it is a big waste of diesel! Smarter move would be a nation wide truck driver shutdown, and court orders be damned! Once supplies go down and people get desparate and pissed, there won’t be a rock small enough for these DC weasels to crawl under without wanting to have the entire country lynch them! They will sprint to open ANWWAR and North Dakota for drilling!

[don-o]

We’re not asking people to shoot at people or throw rocks,

Good to get that nailed down at the get go.

[don-o]

They will accomplish nothing accept getting on TV.

Getting on TeeVee is accomplishing something.

[RightWhale]

Strike! That’s the ticket. Sure.