Trucker Strike·
Posted By: Dr. Frugal in Economics on 03/24/2008 at 06:49:05
Truckers are apparently getting ready to strike. How catastrophic would that be for our shaky economy right now· I'll go ahead and field that--pretty darn catastrophic. From the article:
At issue is the rising cost of diesel fuel, which has reached or exceeded $4 per gallon in at least 17 states. But Little does not expect his strike to bring down the per-gallon price of gas, nor does he expect to have any effect on the oil companies.
"What I would personally like to see is our federal and state governments, until our economy recovers, suspend federal and state fuel taxes," the 49-year-old said. "The second thing I'd like to see is an oversight committee for truck insurance, which is part of what's taking us down.
"The average owner/operator is paying $600 to $800 a month for truck insurance. It's based on personal credit, which means the monthly cost is going up for a lot of truckers because their credit is going down.
"Everything in the world is going up (in price), except for what we do. I lose money if I start my truck, and that truck is paid for รข€" free and clear."
I for one did not realize how much of the cost fell directly on the truckers themselves. Maybe it's because when I'm out driving I can more quickly recognize the "name brand" trucks but look past the non-logo'd ones. Regardless, if you want to start giving out subsidies maybe it's time to take them away from the all-time-record-profit oil companies and throw some to the blue collar guys making our lives possible.
Comments
No comments yet. Future commenting has been disabled.
Sections
Budget (33)Credit (31)
Currency (22)
Economics (86)
Frugality (74)
Loans (42)
Politics (18)
Saving (37)
Taxes (42)
Related:
75% RecessionBared Sterns
What is Spot Gold?
Oil over $102
Airline Death
