Mar 25, 2008 6:39 pm US/Mountain
Truckers Discuss Possible Strike Over Fuel Prices
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Diesel prices are climbing higher and higher and truckers say it's getting too expensive to stay in business. Now, there is talk of a strike to grab people's attention.
Truckers are threatening to shut down the shipping industry in hopes of forcing some relief at the pumps. The price of diesel fuel soared this week to a record $4.06 a gallon. That's a .27 cent jump in just two weeks.
Diesel prices are not as bad in Colorado as in a lot of other states, especially California. In a solidarity protest, several truckers shut down their rigs Monday in Pennsylvania, and truckers in Colorado are predicting more of that to come. Across the country, more and more truckers are calling for a nationwide strike on April 1.
"We stay out three days to a week, I think maybe people will start listening to us, because without our trucks, America stops," Texas truck driver Pat Dreher said. "That's just the way it is."
"It would only take one day for us for people to understand what effect these drivers would have," Kentucky truck driver Jennifer Kloc said. "Everything comes on a truck."
Diesel fuel is already at or over $4 a gallon in at least 17 states. In many places, it's gone up .50 to .70 cents in the past month. One driver at a Coloardo truck stop said it costs him about $1,000 to fill up from empty.
In a visit to Denver Tuesday afternoon, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the American Trucking Association is asking Washington for relief, but said a strike by truckers certainly won't bring it.
"I don't think it would be a very good thing for our country at all, and if the strike is because of high fuel prices, I think that would be taking an action that would affect American businesses and American consumers for something that they don't have a direct relationship to," Peters said.
But if there is no relief, many truckers say they might as well strike, because they won't be able to afford to keep driving. Along with the jacked up diesel, the average owner-operator is paying $600 to $800 a month just for insurance.
As for company drivers, one told CBS4 that if he does keep driving his rig, he won't have money to drive anything else.
"We can't live the way we used to the way gas prices are right now," Texas truck driver Kenyon Mulli said. "When I get home, I have a GMC 2500. I don't go anywhere, I just stay at home."
Several truckers were quick to concede a strike would probably not have any impact on oil companies lowering their fuel prices. Some said they could get some relief if the federal and state governments could temporarily suspend fuel taxes until the economy improves, but they realize that's not likely to happen either. When Peters was asked about it, she said she hasn't heard any calls for fuel tax suspension.
Peters was in Denver to promote a pilot program permitting U.S. truckers to deliver goods directly into Mexico. She said efforts in Washington to end the program would hurt Colorado's farmers and ranchers by delaying their deliveries.
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