Trucker's Strike

#1
sea of orange

sea of orange

The Orange Farmer
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
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#1
Has anyone else heard anything about this? I only heard that it was a possibility. What are some thoughts on what this could do to our economy?
 
#2
#2
First - what a dumb idea by owner operators. OK...I not making enough money so why don't I take off a couple days and make no money. Guess what - your bank is still going to want your truck payment this month

Second - shouldn't do anything to the economy. Think it is just for a day or two and larger firms will be more than happy to pick up the slack. Company drivers don't give a damn about fuel costs.
 
#5
#5
allvol123 said:
Second - shouldn't do anything to the economy. Think it is just for a day or two and larger firms will be more than happy to pick up the slack. Company drivers don't give a damn about fuel costs.
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I disagree with that to a point. Would it hurt my company? No way, but we are a large distribution company so our business is dependent on moving goods. We are also large enough to have contracts in place. IMO it would would really impact the smaller businesses that do not have the volume to negotiate with a large trucking co.
 
#6
#6
utvolpj said:
I disagree with that to a point. Would it hurt my company? No way, but we are a large distribution company so our business is dependent on moving goods. We are also large enough to have contracts in place. IMO it would would really impact the smaller businesses that do not have the volume to negotiate with a large trucking co.
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Small companies can use a broker like CH Robinson and get very decent rates.
 
#7
#7
I'm a truck driver and I've always thought "strikes" of this kind were unnecessary and counter-productive. While I do think that America as a whole is becoming more directly hostile toward truck drivers, there are more effective ways to vent their concerns.

My question is when will the price of fuel begin to directly affect the economy? Thus far, it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact other than the anecdotal, micro-economic factors.
 
#8
#8
MG - have fuel prices at all translated to higher prices independents can charge for their services?
 
#9
#9
most independents are unable to charge higher prices because of companies like Swift, JB Hunt and Schneider. If an OO tries to raise his or her rates in order to deflect their increased fuel costs, a customer will often turn to the larger trucking companies which will charge a much lower rate.
 
#10
#10
volinbham said:
MG - have fuel prices at all translated to higher prices independents can charge for their services?
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Not MG, but my guess would be no VBH. At least not higher prices that translate into higher profits for the driver, more like higher prices that barely cover the additional fuel costs. If freight is "tight" then I think the large companies can certainly eat the fuel better than the small guy and charge more competitive rates and get the business. Thus the small guy has to go down to the price range of the large guy to compete and is really taking it up the rear end on fuel. Just my 2 cents...MG may see it differently.
 
#11
#11
MG1968 said:
I'm a truck driver and I've always thought "strikes" of this kind were unnecessary and counter-productive. While I do think that America as a whole is becoming more directly hostile toward truck drivers, there are more effective ways to vent their concerns.

My question is when will the price of fuel begin to directly affect the economy? Thus far, it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact other than the anecdotal, micro-economic factors.
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at the same time, i've seen actions by drivers that don't do a whole lot to foster good will with 4 wheel drivers either.

i work in the industry myself and today was business as usual except for the fact WVLT kept showing up and asking me if the we were more crowded than usual.
 
#12
#12
allvol123 said:
First - what a dumb idea by owner operators. OK...I not making enough money so why don't I take off a couple days and make no money. Guess what - your bank is still going to want your truck payment this month

Second - shouldn't do anything to the economy. Think it is just for a day or two and larger firms will be more than happy to pick up the slack. Company drivers don't give a damn about fuel costs.
Click to expand...

truer words have never been spoken on this board.
 
#14
#14
Most large shippers, have fuel surcharge agreements in their contract with their carriers. So the shippers offset some of the cost of rising fuel cost, by paying a fuel surcharge. They also adjust frequently based on either a national fuel cost average, or it can be tied to a specific region's average fuel cost.

I would say fuel cost are having an impact, an article out this week on the BNSF, told of them having at least 5% of their Intermodal cars sitting idle on tracks in Wyoming.
 
#17
#17
MG1968 said:
My question is when will the price of fuel begin to directly affect the economy? Thus far, it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact other than the anecdotal, micro-economic factors.
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I think we see it pretty substantially at the grocery store and in decreased restaurant revenues / city entertanment tax receipts.
 
#23
#23
ummm...ever heard of a cell phone VBH? They are rather easy to carry around. Catch up dude.
 
#25
#25
Lexvol said:
I talked to a guy in the industry about this a few weeks ago. I was surprised to learn how much is already delivered by rail.
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in reality, very little is actually "delivered" by rail. I don't know of any Wal Mart or Kroger that has a RR track siding behind it for the purpose of making deliveries. A tremendous amount of commodities are transported by rail, but most, if not all, end up on a truck for delivery.
 
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