General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Strikers Have Shut Down Two Of The Most Important Economic Gateways In The World—And It's Costing Th [View all]The biggest problem with the trucker's statement is that he can go elsewhere to get freight. If not then he can join the strikers as a sympathetic action. Unfortunately, if he's an owner/operator he has ins., truck payment, quarterly individual state taxes, the federal tax and anything he's not making by sitting still will set him back on all of these payments (and there are more than I mentioned) and that is all before he can claim his actual personal wage. It's pretty tough out there for the truckers. If he's a company driver, he's only losing his paycheck, they usually get paid by the mile and rarely are drivers paid by the hour... so if the rig's not rolling, you're not earning a dime and probably spending more than you earn by having to buy food and maybe hotel expenses.
Problem with unionized trucking is that it only applies to company drivers, anyone else is still trying to survive under the same rules and increasing expenses that continue to escalate while the actual pay/mile is not much more than it was fifty years ago. So if the driver owns his rig or drives for an "independent" than he could go find freight someplace else, perhaps, if he has a multi-use trailer. If he has a container-hauler, he's got no choice.
That being said, I hope that there will be a major form of solidarity and that if it should escalate to a general strike kind of series of events, so be it. For those who celebrate christmas should turn their attention to what they can do instead of be ultimate consumers. It might help them get the idea that wasting your hard earned $$ on crap from China isn't the best they can do and, hopefully, they might recognize their role in making the travesty we suffer at the hand of the corporatocracy is what helps feed that damned beast. Could be a catalyst for change... I hope.