I have heard about the strike...BUT.... A over all truck drivers strike has never worked and never will work. Just look at the last strike when people were being shot from over passes. Even with this many trucks worked as normal.As a driver I am happy with my pay rate and my company still has people calling for us to haul their freight. I have no reason to strike and since my company is making money they have no reason to strike. I will say rates are high right now because we are getting over 30% in fuel surcharge right now. Now when you get into owner operator trucks that is a hole differant ball of wax. In this setup you have 1 guy setting the rates (the broker) and one guy trying to make a living at these rates (the trucker) It is a brokers job to bid as low as he can on a haul. This is how he gets work by being the low bidder. He in turn has to find a truck willing to haul it at this rate. As long as he can find a truck to do the job he will not bid higher in fear of losing the work. So truckes strike. SO WHAT!!!!! !! They take a week off in protest of pay rates but come back next week and haul the same loads for the same old rates as last week. What good did they do other than shorting themselves a weeks pay. As long as truckes are willing to haul cheap freight (what ever the reason may be) there will be cheap freight to be hauled. If they ever start being selective in the loads they haul and letting the tomatoes sit on the dock to rot; or the dirt sit at the pit; then and onlt then will rates go up. It is much like the farmer that grows corn thet cost him $10 to grow. He figures he needs to sell at $12 to make money but the elevator is only paying $10.25 Trouble is the neighbor across the street is willing to sell at $10.25 So the farmer has 2 choices. Sell at $10.25 and complain all year about how he lost money or find someone willing to pay $12 In the trucking world to many people are willing to sell at the $10.25 rate and cut cost by running broken trucks; or over hours; to make up the differance so $12 is hard to come by.
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