[Doghouse]

How in the hell do you expect me to make money by driving slower,.........oh wait,...I already do that 8)
Lets leave the cheap freight on the docks for a few weeks,.....then the cheapo a$$ shippers/brokers can rethink their profit margins.

[jiptwoo]

It's real simple; we can't do jack, even the president thought he would get tough with the oil companies, had them before congress about their profits and got nowhere. It's big business jack, and the pres with his meger worth means nothing to them. Talk strike, and for every one that says they will there are ten who say they have bills and family they cannot afford to shut down for three days, nevermind a week. If they cannot afford to shut down for a week then they don't need to be in business. If they have no cash reserve for a week then it only a short time until they get repossed.Holding back production, keeping tankers at sea, false accounting of the oil reserves,oil wells capped off. Even if, and if is a big word, one could prove it do you think you'll get an oil, gas , deisel rebate check, sweet dreams. The only thing the american people are going to do---me included is pay the price or park it! So who is really doing that old deal; the oil companies; ---Truck it up, woop, woop.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by jiptwoo

It's real simple; we can't do jack, even the president thought he would get tough with the oil companies, had them before congress about their profits and got nowhere. It's big business jack, and the pres with his meger worth means nothing to them. Talk strike, and for every one that says they will there are ten who say they have bills and family they cannot afford to shut down for three days, nevermind a week. If they cannot afford to shut down for a week then they don't need to be in business. If they have no cash reserve for a week then it only a short time until they get repossed.Holding back production, keeping tankers at sea, false accounting of the oil reserves,oil wells capped off. Even if, and if is a big word, one could prove it do you think you'll get an oil, gas , deisel rebate check, sweet dreams. The only thing the american people are going to do---me included is pay the price or park it! So who is really doing that old deal; the oil companies; ---Truck it up, woop, woop.

:roll: :roll: I'm gonna LOL at ya for that one. :lol: :lol: What makes you think shutting trucks down for a week will do anything to the oil companies??? You could shut the majority of the trucks down for a month and still not hurt one single oil company. :roll: :roll: Of course...ain't nobody gonna get a majority of trucks ....OR Truckers...to do anything of the kind !!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

lol...I know...That's like the email that goes around saying lets boycott buying gas on Wed and that will hurt the oil companies.

I participated. I filled up on Tuesday so I wouldn't have to buy on Wed. A friend of mine had enough gas so he filled up on Thursday. We really dealt a blow to those big companies!!!

[Twilight Flyer]

Talk of a strike has been going on forever and a day and there's not a messageboard out there that isn't trumpeting this very same discussion. But as they say..."you can't get truckers to agree on anything en masse."

As I was saying to another individual that I was having this discussion with, that's really true with every person and every profession and there's nothing wrong with that. There are going to be thousands of truckers out there that don't agree with striking, don't think it's as bad as others do. You see that on this very thread. Human nature; human individuality, human choice.

But because of that, you will never, ever successfully band together enough individuals for a trucker's strike, no matter the reason and no matter the way you do it. So, you have to think smaller and think impact. And you have to think smart.

I've heard of past strikes where some people talked about ringing every state capital building in the nation. Yeah, good luck with that one. 10 or 20 or more trucks to each site will not get national attention, will be next to impossible to organize effectively and will not focus the issue where it should be focused on (congress). Simply put, no one will care. The politicians will go on campaigning, congress will continue being stupid, and the average American will be more interested in what's happening on American Idol.

So, if you're going to ring a capital building, ring THE capital building. Center it on DC. Park the rigs, hold up traffic, BUT be smart about it. Make certain that emergancy vehicles are not impeded. Line streets, plug up the beltway (except for emergancy lanes), set up your lawn chairs all around the White House, wave your signs (lots of signs), and center your protest on congress, because that is ground zero for the problem of high fuel prices.

Bottom line, you do a peaceful demonstration on that sort of a smaller scale, it'll get noticed. Sure, you'll incur some fines, maybe even a couple hours downtown, but if it's done smart and safe, it won't hurt long. But it gets noticed nationwide and that's step one.

From there, you begin organizing greater support through letter writing, media spots, etc. etc. Get a couple of articulate truckers/fleet owners on Fox News and/or CNN talking about the issues and people will begin to take notice. It's a long, slow process and will never happen overnight. But it will never happen, period, unless someone gets smart about things and does things the right way instead of just blowing off steam and sounding like a panicky might-be home-grown terrorist. I've seen a few of those on other sites and it's downright embarrassing.

:roll:

Personally, I think that if enough truckers get together and set up in DC... calm, cool, collected, and focused AND PEACEFUL... it's going to get noticed and maybe, just maybe, Congress is going to be forced to act: curtail fuel taxes, set new laws in motion for drilling Anwar and the Gulf and opening up new refineries, get serious about alternative energy, etc. et al.

That's what needs to happen and if you're not at ground zero, you're wasting your time. If you shooting off your mouth and acting like a lunatic, your wasting your time.

Striking over fuel prices is not a new concept. Putting together an actual workable plan and following through with it in order to jumpstart the proper reactions, is.

[GMAN]

I agree with Twilight. If you want to have any sort of impact, you need to go to Washington, DC where policy is set. You will need to have enough truckers involved to garner enough attention to get a lot of media attention. It will take a lot of organization. Only having 50 trucks won't have much impact. If you could get 500 trucks, that would get some attention. I have noticed that when the media talks about fuel prices that they are talking about gas, not diesel, yet they always seem to show a truck in the segment.

The problem I see you having is getting enough to take time off from running to get to DC at the same time. The only thing that is going to have a real impact is to have an alternative that will compete with oil and to pursue our own drilling. We have plenty of oil in this country and off shore for many, many years. The problem is that there are those small environmental groups who don't want oil rigs or drilling in those areas where oil is located. Congress and politicians bow to those who either have deep pockets or make a lot of noise.

Something to keep in mind about fuel prices. Some taxes are tied to the price and go up each time oil rises. It is actually in the best interest of government for oil to go higher. The higher the price, the more money they generate.

[Twilight Flyer]

Let me add the following to anyone listening to the "strike" talk going around. Trucking strikes have been talked about and attempted year in and year out for quite some time. $4 a gallon diesel tells you just how effective that has been in the past.

No one ever plans these things. They just spout off on a messageboard or on the CB and go out and get'er dun. You get 100 truckers out there parking their trucks and yacking on the CB? Where's the exposure? There's never any organization, any planning, or any leaders. And because of that, there is never any success.

If a bunch of truckers are going to get together for a cause, it would need a leader to LEAD and PLAN. That person would have to pick a date, stick to the date, and get other to commit to standing up with him or her.

The goal is NOT to get tens of thousands to truckers to do this because that is never going to happen. Sure, the more the merrier, but realistically, think in much smaller terms. The goal would be to get a hundred or so to commit to following a leader and then ACTING as one instead of shooting off at the mouth. Anyone can yack on a messageboard. How many will back up a leader and follow them to DC and inconvenience themselves for a couple of days in order to get a message out?

Additionally, you guys have to get off the word "STRIKE". A strike means you are going to shut them down and will not restart them until you have gained what you want. It will not happen that way. You guys can't afford it and the word "strike" is an extremely negative word. People hear that you are striking and they won't care what your cause is...they'll simply turn up their nose and ignore you.

So, consider it a protest and treat it as a protest. Protest for a few days in DC, make your cause known, then get back to work and support yourselves and your families. Light the fuse in DC and then keep it lit by flooding e-mails in congress and current political campaigns with the plight. Keep yourselves in the spotlight and hold accountable those that hearken to your plea. That's the only way something like this is going to work.

And probably most important, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? Know what those goals are and be prepared to speak about them. You want people to notice. Well, when they notice and ask why you're doing it, what are you going to say? "We want lower fuel prices?" Great, so does everyone else. So, what's your point? How do you intend on getting there?

If you back it up by saying you want to hold our government accountable for high fuel, lack of refineries, too much dependence on foreign oil, lack of alternative fuel options, then you're on the right track. Be prepared to address those issues. Why are they issues? How are we going to get there? Who's going to hold the government accountable for making changes instead of just paying lip service to you?

No one, least of all me, is arguing that you have a worthwhile cause to protest. Hell, I'm behind it 110%. But as I said earlier, if you want to have an impact, go to the heart of the matter. Otherwise, all you guys are going to do is free up a tiny fraction of freight for a few guys that don't give a damn what happens to you.

100 unorganized truckers scattered all over creation is invisible. Always has been, always will be.

But 100 organized trucker gathered together at the seat of our countries government is very visible. 100 trucks driving in a line at 15 mph that last 50 or so miles to the capital is attention capturing. 100 trucks parking along the roads as near to the White House as possible is a media event. And most importantly, 100 truckers acting as one is going to draw others to their cause.

Same number of people...huge difference in organization and effect.

Originally Posted by Evinrude

Yes, the USA has the cheapest fuel om the plant.

NO the USA doesn't have the cheapest fuel on the planet ??? I'm over here in Baghdad n gas is way under a buck n diesel is about 50 cents !!! But this is in American Money !!! 800$ American over here buys 1 million Iraqi Dinars !!!!

[allan5oh]

About the only thing congress or the president can do is open up Alaska for drilling. That might affect prices at the pump 10 cents a gallon.

The US has been on a production decline since 1970. There's no practical way other then ANWR to increase production.

Canada has lots of oil, but it takes time to get. Even as it stands, we're using a LOT of water to get the oil out of the oilsands. Production simply can't be ramped up over night, it will take decades.

Fuel prices, like freight rates, are an open market. Supply and demand reign supreme. Congress and the president do not.

Whining to the president and congress simply doesn't make sense. First, it makes you look like a failed businessman. Second, they cannot do much anyways.

What anyone SHOULD be doing is negotiating a good FSC based upon a fuel mileage number LOWER then what you get. That way every time fuel goes up, you make more money.

[allan5oh]

You know it's funny how truck drivers, as grown adults, want government out of their lives. "Nobody can run my life as good as I can".

Then their business starts failing, and who do they turn to first? I find that extremely pathetic.

As for the original question in the topic headline, "what can we do about diesel prices?" Well we can:

- Drive more efficiently
- Buy an aerodynamic, well specced truck
- Slow down
- Charge enough to cover our costs