strike about what?

BobBrown

Member
all this talk about a strike has got me concerned .
what exactly is being proposed here?,, stopping in the middle of the interstate? we all know that will get the perpetrator arrested,, not delivering the load you are currently on? ,,that will get you held liable for the value of that load if it is not ,for whatever reason, accepted by the consignee,,, Asking company drivers to possibly get fired for not adhering to company policy?,, we can't expect much support in that direction, even though in the end , if successful, company drivers will benefit too,,
I believe the root of all this problem lies with the price paid for frieght,, every time an owner/operator or company decides to go ahead and take that .90 frieght just to get the truck back to home base it costs everybody..
Taking cheap frieght to get YOU back home means that there is probably another driver in your home area taking your next $2.50 plus load for $.90 to get him home also,,, It don't take a genius to see where this is going,, before long (which is really now) every truck on the road is driving around the country earning just enough money to cover immediate operating expenses,,, QUIT IT !!!!!
don't go there!! If that broker on the phone says that's all thier gonna pay then let them keep it!!,, This is not just for O/Os,,, all those companies out there are losing out too,(J.B., Schneider etc.)
Am I wrong in thinking that my major problem in this industry is mine alone? or is this at least one of the reasons there is talk of a strike...
please post YOUR reason for supporting a strike
 
The main reason I see for people wanting to strike is fuel costs.

I know there is supposed to be a strike going on currently, or to put it better, a complete shutdown, but nothing to do with people parking their trucks in the highways. Parking in the highways is definitely not a way to go about getting things accomplished.

As for freight rates, there are two factors involved here. First, there are two many owner operators and smaller companies out there willing to run freight for dirt cheap rates just so they can keep the wheels turning. While I can understand some aspects of that (especially if you have employees to pay), it is still not the way to do things. It has gone on for so long now though, that it is going to take a 100% effort for drivers to get the rates back up on their own.
Second, you have several very large companies out there who are ready, willing, and able to haul that freight at dirt cheap rates and run the little guys out of business. It is exactly how Wal-Mart killed the small business owner. And look at Wal-Mart now, a company that used to sell to the public and extremely low prices has now been raising their prices over the past few years to the point where they are often not much different than the smaller stores. They have killed the competition though, so they don't have to worry about keeping their prices extremely low, although it was "supposed" to be all about the consumer, LOL.

As mentioned in another thread, I am more supportive of more specific boycotts than I am of strikes. Strikes are impossible to accomplish at this point and time, but owner operators and company drivers can work together with specific boycotts, even if they cannot approach it the same way.
 
thanks for putting your opinion up Bullwinkle,,
I totally agree that O/Os and company drivers can work together on most issues that are antagonizing the industry,,,,,
Queston is ,, How do you get them together on the same cause?
Maybe your right ,, by fragmenting the issues instead combining them we can as a group overcome one or more at a time,,
By starting this thread I was hoping to show the commanality of problems/concerns that o/os and company drivers have
 
Getting drivers together on issues is a tough nut to crack. The most important thing is to ignore the people who respond to every issues with things like "this will never work" "truckers will never get together", etc...

Every time you here a good conversation get started up on the CB, within minutes some asshole is going to jump in with the negative crap, and within 2 minutes, an argument is breaking out, followed by my CB being turned off.

We are not at a day and age where many truck drivers are online, with many carrying laptops in their trucks, or at least getting home often and getting online from home. This is a great tool that can be used to get drivers informed and working toward the same goal on many issues.

Too many websites have no focus.
  • Many trucking sites out there are there to recruit new drivers, and that is all they are there for. If you get too serious about issues and doing something about the issues, you will get silenced.
  • Others are ran by people who want to bring out the negative side of trucking, and while that is important, unfortunately is stops there for them. They take on this "it's our forum against the world attitude", and ultimately have no focus other than to be a place for drivers to congregate and bitch about things. That gets nothing accomplished.
I want this place to be different.
  • I want the issues to be discussed, and at the same time, I want this place to become large enough, and focused enough that something can be done about the issues, but done legally and in a well thought out manner.
  • Unlike some forums, if you have good information to link to from another forum, I don't care if you post the link here. I am not going to be paranoid all the time about another forum taking members away, that is not what this place is about.
  • As we grow in membership, I would like to have an area set up where we can really seriously discuss an issue, and come up with a way that "ALL" drivers can come together and help the industry by fixing the issue, rather than just bitching about it.
And I will stop there for now as I am beginning to ramble off-topic, LOL. But many of you know exactly what I am talking about, and have been members and been run off from places just as I have mentioned above. It is going to be different here, and once I am done with this much needed vacation, I will be working harder toward getting this place set up and more active. Truckers need a place like this, and I have wanted to build a place like this for quite some time.

As for the idea of breaking things down into smaller issues, here is a very good thread to discuss ways to change things in the State of California.
http://www.truckersforum.net/forum/f16/truckers-should-boycott-california-1412/
 
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