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Independent US truckers tried to protest against the high fuel prices by pulling their rigs off the road or slowing down on major highways. They hoped that, this way, they’ll force president Bush to use the nation’s fuel reserve to lower the fuel prices. However, without the involvment of major trucking companies, the protests were not coordinated at all and useless. Not only this, but several trucker drivers also got tickets, for impeding traffic by driving at low speeds.
Besides the Bush appeal, the truckers also demanded that contractors pay them more to cover their fuel and other costs. For example, one trucke driver said that it costs him $1 a mile to drive one of the big rigs and the contractors are offering him as little as 87 cents a mile. Almost all trucker associations said they didn’t organize anything, being known that federal law prohibits the association from calling for a strike because it is a trade association.
In this time, in Washington, the top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies declared a $123 billion profit and, though they say they’re aware of the fact that high fuel prices are hurting consumers, they deflected any blame and said that their profits were in line with other industries.
Source: MSNBC
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