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

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wezil


That number would have to include owner/operators running under contract to someone else. These "independents" do not have the choice to park their trucks and will be driving today.

Only if they signed a contract for this week.

[Victor Galis]

Maybe this would motivate more shipping by rail

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Only if they signed a contract for this week.

Owner/operator contracts are generally for much longer periods (usually measured in years). Weekly contracts are a small minority.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
Maybe this would motivate more shipping by rail

Quiet you!

Even so, you still need the trucks.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wezil


Owner/operator contracts are generally for much longer periods (usually measured in years). Weekly contracts are a small minority.

Are you saying that if I want to truck under contract, that I have to sign a contract to do it for over a year like if I wanted to join the military?

[Wezil]

Usually, yes. The large carriers that use o/o need to have the reliability of knowing that truck and driver are available for their use. Otherwise they will just buy fleet trucks.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wezil
Usually, yes. The large carriers that use o/o need to have the reliability of knowing that truck and driver are available for their use. Otherwise they will just buy fleet trucks.

I don't believe you. At most there is incentive to give some notice. Being a contractor means that you get paid per job, not for a certain period as though you are an indentured servant like you are in the military.

Where's teh beef?

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Wezil


Quiet you!

Even so, you still need the trucks.

True. Celery doesn't get to the market; socks don't get to the mall; heating oil doesn't get to houses--by rail. It's trucks.


BTW: Am I correct in my asumption that their is no effective green alternative to diesels? Trucks need power, and fuel cell or electric-engine technology just won't come close to what's necessary.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
Maybe this would motivate more shipping by rail

Rail is booming right now. Shipping by rail is so profitable and in such demand right now that the companies are paying for track upgrades themselves.

Been 30 years since the last major trucker strike. That was a wildcat too, IIRC.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Kidicious


I don't believe you.

*shrug* I didn't expect you would. As it is the industry I work in I do happen to know something about it however. I looked at an o/o contract this morning.

At most there is incentive to give some notice. Being a contractor means that you get paid per job, not for a certain period as though you are an indentured servant like you are in the military.

Where's teh beef?

You must understand only some o/o's actually drive their own trucks. They usually own several trucks where often they will drive one (but not always) and hire drivers for the remaing vehicles. It is the truck that is the "indentured servant", not the owner. The o/o is committed to providing that truck with driver to the company they have contracted with.

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 only "independents" with the real choice not to work are the ones that run under their own operating authority and only doing small/short contracts. As I pointed out at the beginning, this is nowhere near 90% of the industry. They are a very small percentage.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


True. Celery doesn't get to the market; socks don't get to the mall; heating oil doesn't get to houses--by rail. It's trucks.

That doesn't mean it couln't; or rather, that those things couldn't go most of the way by rail then the last few miles by trucks.

A shift from trucks to rail doesn't mean products being delivered door to door by rail, it means being delivered by truck to a train station, loaded onto a train for the cross-country bit of the trip then taken by another truck.

Though, I hear the Ruhrgebiet might be getting an underground light rail system for shipping packages more directly.

BTW: Am I correct in my asumption that their is no effective green alternative to diesels? Trucks need power, and fuel cell or electric-engine technology just won't come close to what's necessary.

Some combination of rail and short distance trucks would be much greener. Not to mention the alternative techs would be more viable for short-haul trips.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Victor Galis
Some combination of rail and short distance trucks would be much greener. Not to mention the alternative techs would be more viable for short-haul trips.

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.

[Jon Miller]

You could run everything off electric and the technology exists to run off fission power for quite a while I tihnk.

Jon Miller

[Riesstiu IV]

Solution is to build trucks and cars with nuclear reactors. Just change the core every 2,000 miles and your good to go.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
You could run everything off electric and the technology exists to run off fission power for quite a while I tihnk.

Jon Miller

True. About a year or so ago, I posted that I was ending my decade's long opposition to nuclear power. The dangers posed by it have decreased, while the dangers of global warming and acid rain from the use of coal etc. have increased.