Can 1 Person Make a Difference Today?

[pktruckdriver]

Now you probally saw my previous post about Trucker's shutting down, striking, what ever you wish to call it, thou striking is probally not the right term to use.
We do not wish to unionize, no we don't , but being heard and actually taken serious, yes we need that.

Some of the unknown things about us truckers.


1. We are always there, working away behind the scenes, quietly, for the
most part.

2. All things come by Trucks, Fuel , Groceries, Homes, even money comes by
the truck load.

3. Without trucks moving the country would shut down, within days, a
week maximum, agreed?

4. Heck even the horses get to the track by trucks....

So If we are getting a raw deal by the Government (all of them, yes), by the Broker's ( not all of them),who give us our loads, and by the fuel companies that provide us our fuel, even by the shippers, ( not all, ok), then what are we to do about it??


This is where I ask can 1 man do something about it and how can I????

What would it cost to do something about and how would I proceed?

I got Idea's but need help implementing them , anyone out there have experience in making the impossible , possible??

Planning things so that no one gets hurt and yet we get our voices heard and listened to, not just heard and ignored as has been in the past, but actually heard an acted upon, how is this done?

Now is this possible and can it be done, I think so, I want to believe that it can be done today, in these times when it needs to be done, before so many go broke trying to make a living out here, we're not wanting to get rich doing this, but at least be able to survive, provide for our families and be a surviving member of society, is that asking too much, no it's not.

Fuel prices are not being dealt with now, why is that?? Might be becuase everyone is too scared to believe that we can do anything about it, i think thats a cop-out, we can do it if we tried, other countries around the world have real low fuel prices, just google it and see, countries like Venzeula and China, even Russia, you'll be surpirsed at what you find out. We should be lower that all of them with what we have here in this country alone, but we're not, why? why? why?

Ok enough for now let me cool down, this really gets me going, sorry.

Patrick
These views are mine and not the opinions of this board, ok.

[toetoe]

p-k-t-d,

All you say is true, and best wishes to all truckers, BUT ...

It's a tragedy how rail transportation has been frozen out by trucking. We should be able to have both running smoothly, but the railroads are almost dead. Let's face it, as bad as truckers have it right now, we subsidize travel by car and truck to a HUGE degree. Why not subsidize train travel just a bit more, enough to breathe some life into it ?

[pktruckdriver]

Believe it or not but train travel for freight is increasing more than ever as one can get 100's of trailers across the country at much less than sending 100 trucks across the country, and I can not blame the compainies that are doing this, next time you see a train look at the companies with trialers on them, JB Hunt, Schnieder, UPS, to name a few, now personal travel on amtrak is open for debate, just not liked in this country, we're all going to fast to take a train.


Thanks for you Idea
Patrick

[toetoe]

:ThmbUp:

[JustRalph]

Hey Toe.......... I think Amtrak gets about 600 million a year in subsidies.

[toetoe]

I know, that's why I said "more." But I also meant freight more especially. As woefully underkept our infrastructure is for autos, we still spends scads of dollars --- enough to burn a wet elephant, as Frank Broyles might say --- facilitating road travel. :)

[GameTheory]

If you can't get a huge strike going, maybe you could get a "bunch" to head to Washington D.C. -- a few thousand trucks clogging up the capitol would get noticed...

[ddog]

PK,

Call it what you will, but what you wish to do is exactly what unions did.

Many of the people that cry about unions now , never the less, expect workforce wide, business concessions won by unions.


1 guy can get 2 or 3 to join and thus start a fund to go out and get others to join and contribute and then you hire some lobby/lawyers and they take your case to the press and gvt reps,etc. and there you go.

That's the way the game is played, if you object to the method/rules , then no , you are dead in the water.

if you organized "on the cheap",just you and a few hundred of your buddies on your own somehow a slowdown/blockaid, and it becomes "enough" to pinch then you would in short order find your spot in court/jail and your trucks being driven by the natl guard.

It's been done before.

[pktruckdriver]

I like the going to Washington DC to protest , but as you say its been done as did not work before too well. A shutdown will get noticed after a few days, no doubt in a week for sure, but we don't wish to starve anyone, or keep medicine from those who need it, no we're no wanting to be harmful in any way, we want to truly be heard and noticed by all, and I mean by all.


And how they notice us should be a good thing not something akin to a strike, thou the familarities are there, we want no union here, just to be heard.

Would the old fashion demonsration be possible, legal of course, with the permits required to be held, held and then invite the people to speak to us and listen to us.

You tell me how we could get Congress to open their doors to us now without a shutdown, knocking won't help, requesting hearings will not work, we both know that, and it is sad, but true.


How much does a lobbiest cost now-a-days, or even a Senator or Memeber of Congress , can you get one for 500.00, probally not, but then again anything is possible, right??? But how good would a 500.00 Senator be for us??


Patrick

[robert99]

What the truckers in UK did (we pay over $10 a gallon) was to organise using the internet a vehicle total blockade of every refinery in the country. The tanker drivers also joined the cause - they could not get in or out any rate. The Government gave in after 2 days and stopped fuel taxation rises so that fuel prices reduced. Politicians hate adverse national publicity that hits them right at home and it is an election year.