Im thinking we should all figure a good week or so to shutdown. That should send a good message to he gas companies. Its all about supply and demand, even if we stop going out to eat in our personal vehicles or stop being frivolous in our travels. I dont know if I can afford going a week, but im not sure how much I can take of these diesel prices. What does everyone think?

 

I hear ya but an industry wide strike big enough to have an effect is just never going to happen. I'm not looking forward to fueling my diesel pick up truck when I get home. My mother said it was 3.99 in town for diesel and my truck only gets about 13 mpg. Diesel was much cheaper than gas when I bought it. I'm on the road for several weeks at a time but if I had to drive to work and back everyday I would be screwed. When it comes to fuel prices we're all screwed 8) 8)

 

I think this is an idea that has been suggested to death the last 5 years or so...maybe even the last 10 or 15 years.

The simple fact of the matter is, shutting down will do nothing to punish the oil companies or drive down the cost of fuel.

Government regulations concerning oil pricing would be to little to late. Besides...the people whom are sitting in the congressional offices' in Washington DC are not going to cut their nose's off to spite their faces'. Their largest contributors are oil and chemical companies.

However...if fuel prices do get where it is surmised that they will reach..rates to the truck will definately get better, for the simple fact that so many trucks will have been taken off the road, for lack of operating capital.

 

Shutdown or go broke!

 

Let it go $10/gal. My FSC will keep up. Now, in my personal vehicle, I'd be up poopy creek with no paddle!

 

I want higher fuel prices.

At about $5 a gallon, my FSC would pay for my fuel cost.

 

LOL! I feel the same way. From a business standpoint, I could care less about the fuel price.... Fuel surcharge is wonderful thing! Right now, it is at .46 a mile where I haul. It is based on 5.5 mpg and since I get approx 6.5, it means nothing but more net.

Let's get real though... anyone who has XM ought to listen to the business channels a little more often. Oil is just like any other commodity like metals or grains. The U.S. dollar is really in the tank and EVERY commodity is higher in price. If I had a few billion lying around, I would start a refinery. But that is unrealistic, since it takes almost 15 years to get thru the red tape and government hoops before you can even start building. Forget it.. I would take my billions and invest elsewhere.

All of the above is pure government meddling and screw ups. Even crop prices being high and causing problems for cattle producers is because of government meddling and spending your tax money of bio fuels instead of letting the market work. If I can get a great price for corn and soybeans, I sure wouldn't plant any wheat. And guess what, this year to meet demand and lack of supply, we will have to import wheat for the first time in this nations history! Don't believe me? Check with your local Farm Bureau office. And now it is coming out in various studies that biofuels and there production actually contribute more to environmental damage than oil.

Truckers are an interesting group. First they can't stand the government getting deeper into their business, then as I listened to Truckin Bozo on XM the other day, they are clamering to have the government come in and regulate fuel prices. Hello.... is anyone here old enough to remember the 70's?

oh well.... doesn't mean anything.

 

Yeah, Let it get 5-10 dollars a gallon so every other thing for the average citizen can get out of reach like the price of gas already is. Yeah, Higher fuel prices ae great for business for a select few but its just throwing the rest of the country under the bus when it comes to the price of the stuff we are hauling....you might earn a few more cents per mile but the general public is not earning a cent more while everything we are hauling goes up. Yeah you get a killer surcharge and a good rate...but who is really paying for that? Not the company paying you. Its the people that are buying their stuff. Its funny to joke about those great surcharges and higher rates but these prices are going to come around and seriously damage the country as a whole if this trend keeps pushing higher.

 

At some point it makes sense to start buying soybean oil at $2.65/gallon and making your own biodiesel. A 35lb (4.6 Gal) is $11.99 at Costco.

There is a $1/gal Federal Tax credit for making it from a virgin feedstock.

Heck if you have an older mechanical injection diesel you can run it straight in warmer weather as long as the oil is pre-heated.