Will there be a big truck stopped in the middle of the highway today ??

[RichC]

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Will tractor trailers block the highways today ?

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/17177551.html

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I hope it happens.
Looking forward to seeing it.

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Thanks
Have Fun !
RichC


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[Kuan]

Probably not here. You don't wanna be in the way of a fleet of snowplows.

[thorsen]

Yes, sitting in traffic wasting gas and time - that would make me very sympathetic to their plight.

[Lexxani]

Hell ya!. . . just for a little bit tho, enough to scare the suits but not screw us, the consumer. . .

[raymr]

I thought biofuel was supposed to become practical once the price hits $2.50/gal. This is the biggest upward trend I have ever seen, and it will put a real clamp on introducing diesel cars to the US.

My heating oil delivery last week was $4/gal. The delivery before that was $3.50, just 2 months ago.

[TheDon]

Professor Emeritus Larry Southwick said, "My guess is that we're seeing more use of diesel as there are more trucks on the road."

really? wow...

I can't wait for them to strike... Let America see what would happen if diesel were to even skyrocket so that truckers couldn't afford to ship sutff

[raymr]

Originally Posted by TheDon

really? wow...

I can't wait for them to strike... Let America see what would happen if diesel were to even skyrocket so that truckers couldn't afford to ship sutff

Not to mention all those cargo ships coming from China.

[BodhiBenz1987]

I guess no one at the controls of this brilliant scheme stopped to ask this: What all-powerful being is going to magically quell a problem rooted almost entirely in rapidly growing worldwide demand? Should we bomb the entire Eurasian spread because you're idling you truck in the highway? That'd probably help lower prices, what without the rest of the world drooling over diesel and all.

Sure, we could lower diesel taxes. The effect will be minimal. The fact is, as supply and demand works, oil companies will start producing more diesel as it becomes more profitable for them, which it is doing steadily. Diesel prices and gas prices will never lower over the long term. Quit dreaming. However, gas prices will rise faster than diesel as gas becomes less and less appealing to the world. Right now, we're reaping the benefits of the rest of the world ditching gas. The world's trash (gasoline) is our treasure and we're rolling in it right now. That will change when refineries stop allocating as much crude to gasoline because it's more profitable to allocate it to diesel.

I'm sorry, but behavior like this protest just irritates me to no end. I have tons of sympathy for truckers, and I do wish our country were smart enough to get serious about alternative fuels. But the fact is, our consumers won't sacrifice anything, so it's a losing proposition for oil companies to pursue alternative markets in this country. They sell the biodiesel to other nations, where consumers are far more interested in it. Protesting Big Oil only underlines the idiocy and narrow-mindedness of the individuals doing it. As long as our consumers (in this case, trucking businesses) take this kind of approach, we'll never get anywhere.

[KarTek]

Guess nothing happened.. At least here it didn't. The drive into work was same as usual...

[Hatterasguy]

The highway seems to be moving at its usual crappy pace.

But if one does stop I will make sure to yell a loud "FU I hope you go under", to him after I sit in traffic for 4 hours.

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

But if one does stop I will make sure to yell a loud "FU I hope you go under", to him after I sit in traffic for 4 hours.

Exactly. Only the unprofessional idiots will be the ones stopping for the protest. The REAL professional truckers will keep on trucking like normal.

I hope every one of them that stops looses their load contracts and throws a rod.

A quick browse of the news shows noting notable.

Trucks keep rolling...for now
A small protest by truckers over fuel prices has limited impact as relatively few park their rigs. But companies see driver shortage ahead from rising diesel costs.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/01/news/economy/trucking_protest/index.htm?cnn=yes

[Skid Row Joe]

According to "some," the economy is so bad, we don't need the goods they move anyway. What with inflation "off the charts" and all the vague and unfocused malaise out there. LOL!

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

Trucks keep rolling...for now
A small protest by truckers over fuel prices has limited impact as relatively few park their rigs. But companies see driver shortage ahead from rising diesel

Transport Stocks Keep Moving

Despite Market Slowdown, Truckers and Railroads
Defy Conventional Wisdom by Posting Solid Gains
By DAVID GAFFEN
March 31, 2008; Page C6

If conventional wisdom -- and a mountain of economic data -- suggest that the U.S. economy is falling into, if not already in, a recession, why are the transportation stocks doing so well?

Investors often look at transportation stocks as a bellwether for the economic outlook. Transportation, in one way or another, is an integral part of many major industries; if manufacturers are seeing slack demand, they will ship fewer goods.

However, through Friday, the Dow Jones Transportation Average has gained 4% on the year, hardly an indication of a dire economic situation, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 7.9% and the broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is off by 10%.

"It's a very interesting contradiction, because here we are in what most people think is going to be an extended economic slowdown and yet we have much better action, certainly among the truckers and railroads, than one would expect," said Kenneth Tower, chief market strategist at Covered Bridge Tactical, an investment advisory in Yardley, Pa.

Since the stock market is a predictor -- not always correctly -- of growth, the rally in transportation stocks reflects expectations of a rebound in economic growth later in the year, just as it foreshadowed the decline in late 2007. The DJTA's closing high in 2007 was 5243.60 in late April, several months before the Dow's apex in mid-October.

What strikes some as odd about the rally is that transportation companies still face significant head winds, particularly from energy costs. The price of crude oil traded on the Nymex hit an intraday peak of $111 a barrel on March 13, and settled at $105.62 Friday. High fuel costs cut into the profitability of airlines and shippers such as FedEx and UPS.

But perhaps this has been factored in, both by shippers and investors: The American Trucking Associations' truck-tonnage index was up 3.5% in February from a year earlier, suggesting a rebound from economic weakness.

A number of companies in the sector have caught the eye of notable value investors, including Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Warren Buffett. Berkshire has been steadily buying shares of companies such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., and now holds an 18% stake in that railway.

"Usually when he buys, it leads a lot of the value guys to look at the stuff," says Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.

Write to David Gaffen at David.Gaffen@wsj.com

[Larry Delor]

The railroad industry should be doing pretty well now, shouldn't they?