Truck Shutdown a Success?

Dan Little, the owner of US Cattle Haulers and one of several organizers of the April truck shutdown has declared success. Many truckers shut down for several days and there were a myriad of stories throughout the media. Certainly attention has been focused on the issue. The ATA, OOIDA, Teamsters Union as well as many local and federal government officials took notice.

The question is - what actions have taken place to ease the burden on the trucking community? Has the truck shutdown accomplished anything sustainable? Dan Little is quoted as saying to fellow truckers, " "Hang tight. We're gonna see where we go from here."

It would seem as if the May 1 truck shutdown date could now take on increased importance. Perhaps it might be reasonable to call a halt to those participating now and work to obtain a larger involvement on that date. There certainly has been attention focused for now, but it is unlikely that any long term benefit for a truck shutdown can be achieved without a statement of very well defined goals.

There are many suggestions out there, but one that would seem to be "achievable" might be a rollback in federal or state taxes on diesel fuel. The government certainly has the ability to reduce those taxes. The federal tax on diesel fuel is almost 25 cents per gallon. State taxes are even higher. California (69.4 cents), Indiana (66.2 cents), Illinois (65.7 cents), Pennsylvania (63.6 cents) are the highest taxes in the lower 48 states. Oklahoma is the lowest at 38.4 cents per gallon.

Perhaps a state could be targeted. For instance what would happen if truckers refused to purchased diesel fuel in Indiana for a week or two? Would that focus attention on the issue? Could that be the catalyst for some sort of relief? Indiana is small enough so that it could be transited in most instances without the necessity of purchasing fuel.

This would seem to be possible because no truckers are being asked to potentially lose their jobs. The large trucking firms could join in as there is a potential benefit for all. The truck shutdown could then have a much larger impact on government.

Another idea might be that all truckers refuse to carry loads for less than (you fill in the amount) per mile. This would seem to be able to deal with complaints about brokers that offer far to little to move goods.

Many truck drivers have posted comments about the truck shutdown on http://www.truckertotrucker.com/trucker/ . That forum seems to be a way to stay in touch with the latest news and events.

Dan Little and the thousands of other truckers on the road - what say you?