"Unofficial" trucker strike brings attention to fuel prices

‘Unofficial’ trucker strike brings attention to fuel prices

Scattered protests across the country last week could continue as truckers protest high diesel prices. Diesel fuel at U.S. pumps averaged $4.02 a gallon through Monday, up 42 percent from a year earlier, according to AAA. At the nearby Baldwin truck stop, diesel is even higher at $4.03 a gallon.

In Harrisburg, PA hundreds of truckers circled the state Capitol blaring their horns in protest and calling on Gov. Ed Rendell to eliminate Pennsylvania's diesel-fuel tax of 38.1 cents per gallon - the highest in the nation, " according to The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal.

On the New Jersey Turnpike, an estimated 200 people protested at a service area and truckers drove at about 20 mph disrupting traffic. Near Chicago, drivers impeded traffic on Interstate 55, driving three abreast at very low speed.

Closer to home, about 30 trucks ran a convoy to Atlanta to call on Georgia lawmakers to cut the state’s fuel tax and about 70 trucks lined up in protest outside the Port of Tampa.

The trucking industry is projected to spend $135 billion on diesel fuel this year, an increase of $22 billion from a year earlier, according to the American Trucking Associations, of Arlington, Va.

Teamster officials and an independent trucker group, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) say they did not support calls for a strike noting that because owner-operators are independent businesses, any labor organizing efforts or strikes could be construed as violating federal anti-trust laws.

"There is a disproportionate burden being placed on small-business owners who are truck drivers because they depend upon diesel to run their businesses," said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. "If diesel is the lifeblood of ground transportation, then truckers are the heart. And many are in need of life support."