US Truckers plan to start strike today over high gas prices.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


You tapped danced around my question. My question was is there a viable alternative to diesel engines? Trains have diesels engines too, so when you say train + truck, you're just saying diesel + diesel.

But -- reading between the line -- I believe you're saying, "No. There's no reasonable alternative to diesel engines at this time," which is what I was afraid of.

There's electric trains . Someone has to pay to electrify the track, but it's certainly viable.

[Grandpa Troll]

Im in heavy duty trucking, supply sometimes means rail systems are just not available.

Currently with the engines we run, we get about 4 miles per gallon.

Next year new mandates come out on pollution/emmisons systems, which is gonna knock that back to near 3 or less MPG.

This is on my mixers.

I alos have to haul freight such as aggregates and cement and pozzolans, not to mention value added products such as admixtures and fiber reinforcement.

In the southeast the supply source is dwindling fastly.

So you are forced to get supplies from various sources, some, as in my market, change every few months.

Now I am simply talking about my small corner of the universe.

Steel has a 3 week backlog. Next week or so Steel goers up $ 50.00 a ton.

Thats foundation material such as lag bolts, anchor bolts and rebar (residential usage switching from #4 to # 5 and commercial work, well, depending on the structure, # 8 or 9, and of course epoxy coating is a necessity in many projects.


Rail would be great for certain hubs, but its not feasible as a large shipment.

One thing would be existing lines and available trains, where do we put the alternate routes at?

Then where does one store while this freight is delivered?

I understand one can build warehouses, but in many locations land is a premium, so what does that do?

It drives the price of freight up because you have to do capitol outlay and then of course time to actually build it.

Sure, I agree we need to visit options, but it most certainly is not as easy when you look a little deeper into it.

Gramps

[Dinner]

Electric trains are only used for commuter transport over short distances all the freight trains I ever have heard of are diesel powered. They're still way more energy efficient then trucks though.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Wezil
Now, can an o/o decide to not drive? Yes, but he would be in breach of his contract.

Can one of his drivers refuse to drive? Sure, but he would probably be fired.

The whole point of a strike is that if enough workers do it, it becomes problematic for the company to do anything about it.

[Wezil]

I understand the power of a mass walkout and in the case of this industry which is already experiencing a driver shortage it could actually have an effect (higher fuel compensation - not lower fuel costs).

I just doubt they will pull it off. Despite the rising cost of fuel it is still better financially to drive than not. For this reason they won't get the numbers they need willing to stop driving long enough to really hurt anyone but themselves.

I may be wrong but I think news reports on the issue in the coming days (or lack thereof) will show this.

[Wezil]

TRENTON, N.J. - Independent truckers around the U.S. pulled their rigs off the road and others slowed to a crawl on major highways in a loosely organized protest of high fuel prices.

Some truckers, on CB radios and trucking Web sites, had called for a strike Tuesday to protest the high cost of diesel fuel, saying the action might pressure President Bush to stabilize prices by using the nation's oil reserves. The protests were scattered because major trucking companies weren't on board and there didn't appear to be any central co-ordination.

On New Jersey's Turnpike, southbound rigs were moving at about 30 km-h near Newark.

Outside Chicago, three truck drivers were ticketed for impeding traffic on Interstate 55, driving three abreast at low speeds.

Near Florida's Port of Tampa, more than 50 tractor-trailer rigs sat idle as their drivers demanded that contractors pay them more to cover their fuel and other costs.

"We can no longer haul their stuff for what they're paying," said David Santiago, 35, a trucker for the past 17 years.

Santiago, like many of the more than 50 truckers gathered on a side street near the Port of Tampa, said he can't support his family on what he makes.

"If it wasn't for my wife, we would have been bankrupt already," he said.

"The oil company is the boss, what are we going to be able to do about it?" said Charles Rotenbarger, 49, a trucker from Columbus, Ohio, who was at a truck stop at Baldwin, Fla., about 40 kilometres west of Jacksonville.

"The whole world economy is going to be controlled by the oil companies. There's nothing we can do about it."

Teamsters union officials said they had nothing to do with any kind of protests.

An independent truck drivers group, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said it also wasn't organizing anything. Federal law prohibits the association from calling for a strike because it's a trade association.

In Washington, meanwhile, top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies said Tuesday they know high fuel prices are hurting consumers but deflected any blame and argued their profits of $123 billion a year were in line with other industries.

Rather than joining the protests, some truckers were forced to sit idle because of shippers' fears of a possible strike.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/04/01/5163851-ap.html

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Oerdin
They're still way more energy efficient then trucks though.

Partially because, in the city, trucks have to stop and go.
Trains don't stop.

[Victor Galis]

I'm also wondering if the zeppelin could be revived as a cargo carrier. There was some company looking into that a few years ago, but I don't know what came of it.

[Sprayber]

My father in law drives for a contractor. He used to drive for himself but repairs and fuel got so expensive he had to park his truck and drive for a company in town. I haven't talked to him in a few weeks but from what I know he can't afford to not to drive. He just got ahead a few months ago in his finances and I don't figure he will give more than a few thoughts about not driving. Around here there are a lot of small trucking outfits and they are all pretty much begging for drivers but all the ones I know who drove for themselves for some time no longer can do that.

[Wezil]

Sadly, truly independent truckers are becoming a thing of the past. They just can't compete with the large corporate fleets.

[Kidlicious]

"In Washington, meanwhile, top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies said Tuesday they know high fuel prices are hurting consumers but deflected any blame and argued their profits of $123 billion a year were in line with other industries. "

So they admit that they are hurting comsumers but blame other corporations for doing the same thing. Thanx. I forgot why I hate this country.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Kidicious


So they admit that they are hurting comsumers but blame other corporations for doing the same thing. Thanx. I forgot why I hate this country.

"Greed is good" - G. Gekko

btw - That quote you posted wasn't exactly mine. It was from the news article.

[Arrian]

I think I'll protest the sun setting this evening. Who's with me?

-Arrian

[UnOrthOdOx]

I'm in.

I say we light massive bonfires in protest. (since I'm planning to anyway and all)

[Richelieu]

You guys have beer? If you have beer i'm in.