Truck driver strike because of gas prices..

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Todd Z

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Just spoke to friend who drives a tractor trailer long distance in the drivers union. He said Friday there is a planed strike due to gas prices...

Any one else heard wind of this??

Todd Z
 
Good for them. In my opinion, a strike should only be reserved as an absolute last resort. I do feel they have a valid point. The Teamsters can help make a difference as long as the non-union companies follow suit and help bring prices down. We all know the big guys will do anything they can do to keep the trucks moving. While I do agree that buisness is buisness, but they can help prove a point to the presedent that he needs to open up the oil reserve now. Not once he can figure out a way to make a hefty profit from it.



People in the south are starving and extreme thirst. Why does the oil industry have to profit on those poor folks. Why doesn't the government step in and tell the oil industry enough is enough. Provit is not a dirty word, but price gauging is.





Tom
 
Good, they're about the only ones that can make a difference with a gas strike. Stop the trucks, everything else is coming to a grinding halt.
 
i'm not sure that will help gas prices. Consider that these trucks are delivering the fuel?



This will hurt the other businesses and the general public more than the oil companies. While it will slow down the refineries, the availability of gas at the pump will be even more limited. That will cause higher prices and longer lines for the limited supply of gas.



That will surely reduce our consumption, the oil companies will just sell the oil they have to other countries, and the gas to who ever has their own fleet of trucks and drivers.



...Rich
 
I tend to agree with RichardL. Not only will it make for longer lines at the pump, what will it do to the prices and availablility of the other goods that they deliver....like food.
 
First of all, the President did authorize the release of crude oil, from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. He said so in his address to the nation yesterday. Also, the Secretary of Energy suspended the laws and regulations mandating the refinement of region-specific "boutique blends" of oil indefinitely. These steps will help gas prices come down, but not immediately.



The reason that prices have spiked is simple supply and demand. First, they were already going up prior to Katrina's strike due in anticipation of increased demand over the holiday weekend. Now the reason they've spiked post-Katrina is that our refining capacity took about a 25% hit with the loss of the refineries in the Gulf. Also, the major pipeline that transports gas from the Houston area to most of the East Coast is down. Now, with all this hitting the news, the public goes into a panic, and starts to buy up gas like crazy, depleting the immediate supply and causing a shortage. Here's a prime example from Atlanta yesterday:



As the panic spread, and the demand increased, the prices at the pumps were pretty much unchanged ... for a while. As a result people decided to top off every vehicle they owned .. .no matter how much gas remained in the tank. The predictable result was that stations soon ran out of fuel. The word spread, and more people hit the streets to fill more cars. Today people in Atlanta will find that many gas stations still have their pumps shut down. Throughout the night tanker trucks were busy trying to replenish the stations, but there simply aren't enough trucks to meet this demand. Another supply problem.



So .. what was the solution? For the politician the solution may have been to pander to the electorate by talking about imposing fines on gas station operators who "overcharge", whatever that means, consumers. The real solution, though, was to increase prices in response to the increased demand and limited supply. This is what the uninformed and the political class call "price gouging."



Let's take a look at what would have happened if the free market had been allowed to do what it has always done so well -- when left alone -- and that is to allocate scarce resources. If gas prices had risen strongly yesterday (as they in fact did at some stations) then people would have given a second thought to filling every car they own. If the prices were, say, $5 a gallon, consumers would have purchased what they thought they might need to get through the next few days, and would have started making plans for conservation., Certainly few people would have been shuttling back and forth filling up every car they owned. As a result, the gas that one consumer didn't pump into his second or third car because the price was so high would have been gas available for someone to put into the car they actually needed to get to work.

Keeping the prices artificially low encouraged over-consumption and hoarding.



The truth is that when Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue signed an executive order late yesterday afternoon threatening heavy fines on gasoline retailers who, as he said "overcharge" customers, he became a part of the problem and not a part of the solution. His statements were a signal to the people that there was a crisis in gasoline supplies, and to get out there and fill up everything they could while he held the prices down. Today Atlanta drivers will experience the results of the governor's actions.



This whole price gouging nonsense was also front and center last year when four hurricanes ripped through Florida. Entrepreneurs abandoned plans to rush needed supplies and commodities to South Florida when politicians started pandering to voters with dire threats of fines and even jail time for evil price gougers. The marketplace simply wasn't allowed to respond properly to increased demand .. and shortages resulted.



This tragedy is a prime example of why our nation needs to b
 
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Unfortunately your assessment falls short in a number of areas. First drilling in ANWR will do nothing to resolve the issues we are experiencing right now. You are correct, however, that this is an issue of supply and demand. The problem here is with the oil companies not crude oil.



If you want prices to fall then we need new refineries. Our existing ones are operating at capacity and this is exactly what the oil companies want. If there were more refineries prices would go down as supplies increased. The Arab's can increase their production 2x, 5x, or 50x and it'll do nothing to resolve our current challenges... now if someone were to build an engine that can run on crude oil?!? :D
 
Andy H, regarding your closing question, I've posted this in a couple threads already, but I'll repeat it here--This morning in an interview, President Bush indicated that he has refused any and all offers of foreign assistance, instead indicating that the US can handle this on our own. So it's hardly fair to be critical of any country for not helping, when any offers of help that they've made have been rejected, and they already know that any offers they make in the future will be rejected.
 
On the contrary, if they know their offer will be rejected, what would it hurt to show support? They wouldn't have to do anything and they would somewhat be in the good graces of the US gov't, at least for a while.
 
Bill,



I'm aware of offers of foreign aid, but was Kuwait one of them? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think so. I wasn't trying to take anything away from the other nations that did offer support, I was just wondering specifically about Kuwait.
 
I drive tractor trailer for fedex. I put $425.00 worth of diesel in my rig today. I know I dont pay for it, but it still has an effect on the business.
 
I agree with Andy, however the solution is not to drill for more oil today, that should have been done over 30 years ago.



The oil dependency has been a problem all the way back to WWII, because Japan had little or no natural resources and decided to go and get some. The 1972 oil embargo whould have been the first sign that we could no longer depend on the current oil producing countries in the middle east to be our major source of crude oil. Everyone saw it as a major problem that would come back to haunt us but little was done about it.



As gas prices rose, we adapted to the higher cost and went about or business ignoring the increasing demand by the US and other econamicly emerging countries. Appearantly the US never envisioned these countries would become our competitors for the growing demand for oil.



During the 1980's there were tax incentives for alternative and low energy products that was moving this country in the right direction. Then the rug got pulled out of the tax incentives and many alternative energy companies were forced to close their doors.



A local company here in Waco, TX was Solar King. They developed and sold numerous solar powered devices but the relied on the tax incentives to make their products more affordable. The even developed the worlds first solar powered home air conditioning unit that was about to revolutionize how we cool our homes in the sourthern parts of the US. That's when the tax incentives were pulled out and Solar King had to close their doors. Had the tax incentives remained, the increased sales and larger production of this new technology would have reduced the cost to be highly competitive with a traditional AC/Heat pump.



In my opinion, any state that refuses to allow refineries, nuclear power plants, or other technology that will allow our country to become self sufficient on our own oil, gas and energy resources, should be forced to pay a premium price or surcharge, unless their state has other energy resource they can contribute to the rest of the nation.



...Rich



...Rich







 
No doubt this potential strike will come with mixed emotions.



When trucks do go, NOTHING gets delivered. Period!!!



That said, we need the fuel in the trucks... So basically it has the potential to be a vicious circle.



It is like being 17 and wanting a job. To get a job you need a car, (in most cases). To buy the car you need a job. To maintain the car you need the job. To get to the job you need the car. And on and on and on....



It is just one of those things where no real good will come out of it no matter the end result...
 
Well, on the bright side if ti does happen, maybe the trucks won't be tying up traffic on 95 like they always seem to do. I may get back home quicker on Friday....
 
Folks.... what we have is NOT a shortage of crude oil, but rather a shortage on refineries.... There hasn't been a single new refinery built in 30 years (except the one going up in NM).... WHY? Because oil companies don't want to build them.... Why would an oil company want to spend 100 milllion to build a refinery that will increase supply, and drive the prices of gas down?



One solution.... this is a wake up to get America on track for another fuel source.... Come on Hydrogen, and come on Ethanol.... Now is the time to reduce our fossil fuel consumption....



 
Can't build refineries if towns and cities dont' want them near their areas either.



It's funny how disaster helps create increase in fuel prices as well. You would think since MILLIONS can't even drive in disaster areas it would save and help lower the cost.

I guess that makes sense that if less are spending the Oil Companies have to find a way to recoop, Right?



I support the Trucking industry 100%. I understand what those folks go thru. Not only the bigger trucking companies but the owner operators. These hikes are going to kill the independent drivers business. It's times like these when the 18 wheel drivers can speak out for ALL of the US.



When they park their trucks and refuse to deliver goods. Don't be upset THANK Them.

They are protesting for all of usl And believe me...the Oil Companies and Government will ALL listen when they do park.



10-4 to the Ladies & Gentlemen in them Big Trucks!





 
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I'm planning to fill up at the E-85 station tomorrow. I don't care if it costs a bit more, but I want to help this situation a little. The base actually ran out of unleaded gas today, so that wasn't even an option.
 
GM, I remember those times.



We own a Convenient Food Mart. We had to hang a sign on the last car based on gallons pumped for the day and the time..



My life was threatened more than once....
 
KP



Those days sure were some wild times! Very scarey for you I am sure !

Fist fights at the gas pumps often reported, lines and lines of folks wanting the petro.



Teamsters were on the move back then FULL FORCE. Not only with the trucking industry, but even other union companies such as the one my aunt worked for. She was a shop stewart. Very strong voice in her Teamster union. So strong the company made her management to keep her quiet. So they thought, she just had a way of saying things w/out saying things and breaking no rules of either party :)



Funny growing up watching her in her day, one year she's on the picket lines, the next year, on the inside giving her bosses heck, "saying you know they gotta fight for whats right and wrong about their jobs" What was really nice is that she was well loved by both shop and management. 3yrs later, the company broke union and moved the company .."where?" to AZ the Right to Work state of course. :)



 

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