Truckers Boycott Fuel in Napavine
It might not have had the desired effect just yet, but it’s a start.
A few dozen truck drivers pulled off the freeway and into an open gravel lot off of Interstate 5’s exit 72 on Friday, stopping for brief, or longer, intervals to chat with their fellow drivers in protest of the high price of diesel fuel.
Sherri Bond, who operates Bond Trucking in Chehalis with her husband, Bob, organized the event and spent much of the day with an ear glued to a cell phone, conducting interviews with trucking publications and radio stations.
Bond said a lot of support had come from truckers stopping in on their routes, but the turnout wasn’t quite what she’d hoped for. Around 60 drivers had stopped by as of about 1 p.m.
“These people are asking nothing more out of life than to work,” she said. “This used to be the American dream. This is becoming the American nightmare.”
Bond’s husband, Bob, has been in the trucking business since 1960. They currently own five trucks, but are only running one, due in no small part to the high price of fuel and trickle-down effect on maintenance costs.
Five years ago, she said, more than 2,500 log trucks were registered in Washington; by March, that number had dropped to 785.
“You can’t earn a living wage in log truck driving right now,” she said.
One driver brought in a receipt from a Safeway gas station in Kelso, which was offering diesel for $3.87 a gallon, significantly lower than local prices. A few hundred yards away from the protest, exit 72 stations were offering the fuel for about $4.35 a gallon. The state average for diesel is $4.20 per gallon, according to AAA of Washington — the highest price ever. One year ago diesel sold for $3.03 a gallon in Washington.
“It’s definitely not about the local distributors,” Bond said. “It’s about Big Oil.”
The organizers were providing lists of phone numbers for legislators, with the hope that drivers would write letters and get involved.
Dan Wallace, from Toledo, was one of the truckers talking shop with his fellow road warriors in the gravel lot on Friday.
The price of fuel, coupled with skyrocketing maintenance costs, are making the trucking life harder and harder, he said.
“It’s just eating the profits,” he said. About half of his weekly gross income will go to fuel, he explained. His company, Dan Wallace Trucking, was running three trucks last year; he’s sold two and only runs one right now.
“Young guys ain’t interested. You can’t find drivers,” he said “It used to be fun. It’s not fun anymore.”
Truckers weren’t the only industry represented at the fuel boycott. Pepper Gratzer, who contracts work on commercial and industrial heating systems, stopped by the event Friday afternoon.
Gratzer, from Adna, said he’s only raised his rates four or five times in the last 20 years, but had to up the price three times in the last year and a half.
“I used to enjoy being able to get in my service truck and being able to meet and greet customers, just courtesy stuff,” he said. “I quit doing it. I can’t afford it.”
Source: The Chronicle
Tags: fuel costs, truckers strike