As a lurker to DailyKos now for months, I thought I'd try my hand at posting my first diary.
An article on LandLine Magazine discusses
the rising cost in fuel prices that all owner operated truckers are facing. Many independent truckers are planning to park their rigs on April 1. A work "stoppage" of this magnitude can definitely have an impact on consumer goods, but the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association seeks to draw attention to our current recession and seek relief in fuel prices. Plight of the truckers has not escaped the attention of the Clinton campaign.
Thanks for reading and thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention.
BTW, I am a recovering republican who WILL be voting for Obama in the general election.
To expand on this diary see the news item in Land Line Magazine:
"Brokers are not showing the fuel surcharge, and the trucker’s not getting it. That’s a big problem right there," Gossett said.
Besides taking a financial hit on the front end by having to pay for $4 fuel at the pump, Gossett said he’s also being hit again on the consumer end, as well.
"I’m seeing it at the beginning and at the end," he said. "I come home to purchase my goods, and I’m being beat up at both ends of the line."
, says OOIDA member Jim Gossett of Chapel Hill, NC.
The broker issue is a BIG problem. Goods are contracted to ship, but rarely is the cost for the fuel factored in and even if it is a factor, truckers never see it.
On the legislative front, OOIDA is pushing for new legislation called the FITT ACT – Fairness In Trucking Transactions. This would call for disclosure of fuel surcharges on freight transactions and a 100 percent pass-through of the surcharge to the individual who actually pays for the fuel. Soon the Association will be urging members to contact lawmakers to support this legislation.
I apologize for the sparse information, but I wasn't sure who might be interested in this diary. Its also my first, written way after I should've been in bed.