GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is calling on President Barack Obama to listen to small-business truckers about fuel, energy and counterproductive regulatory actions, including the high cost of diesel that now averages over $4 a gallon.
Noting that OOIDA was founded in 1973 as a result of global trade and economic issues, including the Arab oil embargo, Jim Johnston reminded Obama in a May 9 letter that unlike many industries around the country, the trucking industry is not made up of a small number of major entities that can spread increased fuel costs across their business units.
“For a large part of the trucking community, when a trucking company pays for fuel, it comes out of the driver’s pocket,” Johnston told the president. “While many drivers are able to take advantage of fuel surcharges and other mechanisms designed to lessen the blow of high fuel costs on them and their family, these systems are not perfect, especially when fuel prices are rising quickly like they are today.”
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Noting that OOIDA was founded in 1973 as a result of global trade and economic issues, including the Arab oil embargo, Jim Johnston reminded Obama in a May 9 letter that unlike many industries around the country, the trucking industry is not made up of a small number of major entities that can spread increased fuel costs across their business units.
“For a large part of the trucking community, when a trucking company pays for fuel, it comes out of the driver’s pocket,” Johnston told the president. “While many drivers are able to take advantage of fuel surcharges and other mechanisms designed to lessen the blow of high fuel costs on them and their family, these systems are not perfect, especially when fuel prices are rising quickly like they are today.”
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