Truckers Protest, the Resistance Begins

Until the beginning of this month, Americans seemed to have nothing to say about their ongoing economic ruin except, “Hit me! Please, hit me again!” You can take my house, but let me mow the lawn for you one more time before you repossess. Take my job and I’ll just slink off somewhere out of sight. Oh, and take my health insurance too; I can always fall back on Advil.

Then, on April 1, in a wave of defiance, truck drivers began taking the strongest form of action they can take – inaction. Faced with $4/gallon diesel fuel, they slowed down, shut down and started honking. On the New Jersey Turnpike, a convoy of trucks stretching “as far as the eye can see,” according to a turnpike spokesman, drove at a glacial 20 mph. Outside of Chicago, they slowed and drove three abreast, blocking traffic and taking arrests. They jammed into Harrisburg PA; they slowed down the Port of Tampa where 50 rigs sat idle in protest. Near Buffalo, one driver told the press he was taking the week off “to pray for the economy.”

The truckers who organized the protests – by CB radio and internet – have a specific goal: reducing the price of diesel fuel. They are owner-operators, meaning they are also businesspeople, and they can’t break even with current fuel costs. They want the government to release its fuel reserves. They want an investigation into oil company profits and government subsidies of the oil companies. Of the drivers I talked to, all were acutely aware that the government had found, in the course of a weekend, $30 billion to bail out Bear Stearns, while their own businesses are in a tailspin.

But the truckers’ protests have ramifications far beyond the owner-operators’ plight --first, because trucking is hardly a marginal business. You may imagine, here in the blogosphere, that everything important travels at the speed of pixels bouncing off of satellites, but 70 percent of the nation’s goods – from Cheerios to Chapstick --travel by truck. We were able to survive a writers’ strike, but a trucking strike would affect a lot more than your viewing options. As Donald Hayden, a Maine trucker put it to me: “If all the truckers decide to shut this country down, there’s going to be nothing they can do about it.”

More importantly, the activist truckers understand their protest to be part of a larger effort to “take back America,” as one put it to me. “We continue to maintain this is not just about us,” “JB”-- which is his CB handle and stands for the “Jake Brake” on large rigs-- told me from a rest stop in Virginia on his way to Florida. “It’s about everybody – the homeowners, the construction workers, the elderly people who can’t afford their heating bills… This is not the action of the truck drivers, but of the people.” Hayden mentions his parents, ages and 81 and 76, who’ve fought the Maine winter on a fixed income. Missouri-based driver Dan Little sees stores shutting down in his little town of Carrollton. “We’re Americans,” he tells me, “We built this country, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lie down and take this.”

At least one of the truckers’ tactics may be translatable to the foreclosure crisis. On March 29, Hayden surrendered three rigs to be repossessed by Daimler-Chrysler – only he did it publicly, with flair, right in front of the statehouse in Augusta. “Repossession is something people don’t usually see,” he says, and he wanted the state legislature to take notice. As he took the keys, the representative of Daimler-Chrysler said, according to Hayden, “I don’t see why you couldn’t make the payments.” To which Hayden responded, “See, I have to pay for fuel and food, and I’ve eaten too many meals in my life to give that up.”

Suppose homeowners were to start making their foreclosures into public events-- inviting the neighbors and the press, at least getting someone to camcord the children sitting disconsolately on the steps and the furniture spread out on the lawn. Maybe, for a nice dramatic touch, have the neighbors shower the bankers, when they arrive, with dollar bills and loose change, since those bankers never can seem to get enough.

But the larger message of the truckers’ protest is about pride or, more humbly put, self-respect, which these men channel from their roots. Dan Little tells me, “My granddad said, and he was the smartest man I ever knew, ‘If you don’t stand up for yourself ain’t nobody gonna stand up for you.’” Go to theamericandriver.com, run by JB and his brother in Texas, where you’re greeted by a giant American flag, and you’ll find – among the driving tips, weather info, and drivers’ favorite photos –the entire Constitution and Declaration of Independence. “The last time we faced something as impacting on us,” JB tells me, “There was a revolution.”

The actions of the first week in April were just the beginning. There’s talk of a protest in Indiana on the 18^th, another in New York City, and a giant convergence of trucks on DC on the 28^th. Who knows what it will all add up to? Already, according to JB, some of the big trucking companies are threatening to fire any of their employees who join the owner-operators’ protests.

But at least we have one shining example of defiance of the face of economic assault. There comes a point, sooner or later, when you stop scrambling around on all fours and, like JB and his fellow drivers all over the country, you finally stand up.

If you would like to help support the truckers in any way, go to http://www.theamericandriver.com/files/TruckersAndCitizensUnited.html

Comments

[chris]

Brian,

If the CEOs of all 500 of the Standard & Poors' 500 corporations worked for free, the impact on the economy would amount to a mere ripple.

If they earned an average of $20 million in cash, that cash totals only $10 billion -- which is taxed.

This is not to say that such pay is justified by the brilliance of the business judgment of these CEOs. But nothing you have stated shows how their pay has caused harm to the economy. Additionally, there are many large companies that are not stockholder owned. They answer to no other authority beyond the head of the company or the company's board.

Meanwhile, there is always turnover in the corporate landscape. Of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrials, only ONE was part of the original group when this index was created about 1903.

That one company is General Electric. Meanwhile, the GE of today is nothing like the GE of 1903 -- in terms of its products and markets.

Thus, companies that fail to face the future with eyes open will fail or at least drop back as innovators move ahead.

We will see solar energy companies claiming a bigger share of the energy market over the next couple of decades. Hopefully there is an Einstein of batteries out there studying physics and chemistry. The man who develops a battery capable of storing as much energy as a tank of gas will become richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined.

As far a interest-rate calculations go, they are easy. Determining interest paid for a purchase is also a breeze. And like I said, no one is required to borrow. If you can't understand the dense verbiage about rates supplied by MBNA, don't carry a balance on that card -- or any other card. Then you have no problem. Your enemy is defeated because you refuse the offer of credit.

Meanwhile, a lot of your rambling is laced with semi-conspiracy-theory undertones.

Meanwhile, you mentioned "cheap imports." That's true in reference to some goods. But false in reference to most. The low dollar hurts when it comes to imports. Meanwhile, managements of big US companies are well paid even if their companies operate entirely in the domestic market.

Don't worry about the wealth in the hands of people on top today. They will spend it, give it away or pass it along in their estates, always stimulating further economic action.

In Cuba wealth is controlled by a handful of people at the top. It NEVER drops down to the oppressed millions in Cuba. And no one among the oppressed can rise to the top to enjoy it.

If you want more wealth to circulate in this country, then support oil drilling wherever oil reserves can be found. Support the construction of new oil refineries. End screwball farm-price supports for crops, end tariffs on ethanol, support the re-start of the US nuclear power industry.

Shorten the patent life on pharmaceuticals to about 10 years. We'd see even more innovation AND lower prices.

Break the government strangle-hold on public education. There's nothing sacred or magical about learning. But there is a lot in the bureaucratic public school system that is deadening.

Allow unlimited numbers of high-tech workers into the US on H1-B visas

[Anarcissie]

brian: '... isn't an executive getting paid over 5 million dollars a year blatant theivery to you? The money comes from somewhere....'

Basically, this kind of money is created by the government out of nothing as credit and fed to big corporations through the Federal Reserve Bank and other financial institutions. There is no longer enough labor power in existence to make good on the credit, so it is mostly fictional; it's a symbol of power and repute. As long as the CEOs bid against one another for posh real estate, yachts, and Picassos, they money will exist; if they try to spend it for something real, it'll cause tremendous inflation, diluting its value, or it will disappear altogether. But it's a fun game while it lasts, at least for those who get to play.

With oil at $117 a barrel and banks going broke all over the place the game does look like it's coming to an end.

[Brian]

Chris the pay is really a compensation formula and that biases what and how ceo's do things, what projects and products to push their subordinates to push on their customers and the economy in total. Its not just the dollar amount, its what factors of the job that are compensated at the highest rates and that is where the ceo's and their managers focus. This focus in a leveraged economy in the trillions distorts the entire chain of creation and distribution in major ways. Apparently its more profitable to create and market fraud of one kind or another than real product all too often. So that is how the "compensation system" drives the problem much to the detriment of the population as a whole. Plus it also distorts stock and bond prices etc to the point that it robs those holding simple ira's and 401k's for retirement as much as it does more exotic customers. It helps freeze the pay of the masses while a few at the top whittle impossible wood cuts for amplified money which comes from those below.

[Brian]

Speaking of battery technology and solar cell technology, both have come a long way in just the last decade, as has the efficency of power usage in not only microchips but in room illuminating light bulbs. Its dramatic. But for every engineering student in freshmen college there are 100 law students in first year law school.

[Brian]

we already have 100 mile per gallon car engines sitting on the shelf if we ever want to mass produce them. We already have prototype hydrogen fuel cell cars sitting on the shelf too. There are dozens of types of hybrid and plain old electric vehicles we can put out in a few short years with little effort if we choose. The newest low wattage light bulbs are great and houses could be filled with them with ease. We have better insulation materials and warmer clothing than ever before available to the masses. We could as a society reduce our oil usage dramatically in a decade, even in five years if we chose. We are right now in the midst of breakthrough mass led (light bulb) techonology and newer generations of materials to greatly enhance our electric and electronic technology. We can build new and safe nuclear reactors that can't melt down if we want. We can rebuild our electrical grid to be more energy efficient. There are tons of things we can do that would solve the problem, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and whole new green industries we can become the first to master and thereby create new export markets for ourselves. If we ever get a government not run by the current group of dominant corporations, but rather a more open and dynamic goverenment run by both the people and companies that get on the same page to solve these problems. That will by definition cut many ceo's pay, many wallstreet bonuses, many of the big banks power, and make hedge funds less profitable. It will still create a lot of new wealth but it will redistribute it more democratically based on different measures than what we are saddled with today. It will unconcentrate the corporate power for a while. It will do all the things Nader never could, yet be a great growth engine for the country at the same time, but more democratically distributed, more eagletarian based on skills other than simply levarage and accounting shenanigans that made the big boys so much money in the past years.

[chris]

Brian, you wrote:

"Chris the pay is really a compensation formula and that biases what and how ceo's do things, what projects and products to push their subordinates to push on their customers and the economy in total."

The preceding describes the nature of pay for every worker.

You said:

"Its not just the dollar amount, its what factors of the job that are compensated at the highest rates and that is where the ceo's and their managers focus."

This is exactly what is intended by all parties -- including the owners, who, in many cases, are outside stockholders. The goal of every business is to earn a profit. If it does not earn a profit, it is either a social service agency or a hobby.

You said:

"This focus in a leveraged economy in the trillions distorts the entire chain of creation and distribution in major ways."

This focus gives consumers what they want -- and keeps the door open for those who realize that new opportunities pop up every day.

You falsely claimed:

"Apparently its more profitable to create and market fraud of one kind or another than real product all too often."

Really? Have you got an example? The top dogs at Enron are in jail or, conveniently, dead. The top dogs at Worldcom are in jail. One fact of criminal enterprise that does not get the press coverage it deserves is the annals of white collar crime and the subsequent jail time for the malefactors who are often caught and prosecuted.

The Mafia was always good for getting money in exchange for no discernable benefit, other than NOT getting a beating. But few corrupt enterprises scalp illicit profits for long. Especially if those companies are stockholder-owned. The schemes all collapse -- sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, there are segments of Enron and Worldcom that continue to operate because they provide important services that were not fraudulent.

You said:

"So that is how the "compensation system" drives the problem much to the detriment of the population as a whole."

Says you. The world is full of good stuff available at reasonable cost.

You wrote:

"Plus it also distorts stock and bond prices etc to the point that it robs those holding simple ira's and 401k's for retirement as much as it does more exotic customers."

More nonsense. The fact that there are a few examples of personal financial disasters means nothing. Many people own Treasury securities and nothing else.

You claim:

"It helps freeze the pay of the masses while a few at the top whittle impossible wood cuts for amplified money which comes from those below."

If all the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies or the S&P 500 companies distributed their paychecks to the employees, the paycheck of the average employee would hardly budge. The dollar-figure of CEO compensation does not affect a company's bottom line.

Exxon had revenue of $400 billion in 2007 and net profits of $40 billion. The CEO's pay amounted to less than a rounding error.

Maybe the guy is an idiot and should be fired. That's another matter. But shareholders and other employees were not penalized by the size of the CEO's paycheck.

[chris]

Brian says:

"Speaking of battery technology and solar cell technology, both have come a long way in just the last decade, as has the efficency of power usage in not only microchips but in room illuminating light bulbs."

It's all relative. Batteries have improved very little compared with microchips. Here's the facts, the best batteries can take a charge that contains about as much energy as FOUR gallons of gasoline. Four gallons of gasoline weighs about 20 pounds. The batteries weigh at least 250 pounds.

You said:

"Its dramatic. But for every engineering student in freshmen college there are 100 law students in first year law school."

Your statement is false. The ratio is not anywhere near as extreme as you suggest. In fact, I'm not even sure that more kids start in law school than engineering school.

But, as an engineering-school graduate, I can tell you the drop-out rate is 67%, if not higher.

You must have the mind for engineering. It is not for everyone and it is not easy. But the same holds for law school.

If parents were able to discuss physics, chemistry, calculus and electronics with their kids, we'd have more engineers in the country. In fact, Einstein's father ran a battery-making facility. You get the picture.

Meanwhile, graduates of both engineering schools and law schools often migrate into work that does not require either degree.

[chris]

Brian believes:

"we already have 100 mile per gallon car engines sitting on the shelf if we ever want to mass produce them."

False. The relationships between mass, acceleration, velocity, headlights, air conditioners, stereos and friction are well understood. If you want to drive a go-kart, you can get 100 miles to the gallon. But modern travelers won't accept such crude vehicles. And they don't have to.

You have been bamboozled:

"We already have prototype hydrogen fuel cell cars sitting on the shelf too."

Big news -- just like the electric cars, it's not the motor that is the weak link. It is the fuel. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. But almost none of it is found in pure form. Most of it is combined with oxygen in the form of water. Extracting hydrogen from its compound state makes it many many times more expensive than oil.

Future-Billionaire Project Number One: build a battery that holds lots of energy and recharges in minutes.

Future-Billionaire Project Number Two: Separate hydrogen from oxygen for less than the cost of producing gasoline.

You said:

"There are dozens of types of hybrid and plain old electric vehicles we can put out in a few short years with little effort if we choose."

If We Choose??? How about: If Buyers Will Buy Them?

You said:

"The newest low wattage light bulbs are great and houses could be filled with them with ease."

So what? Prosperity means that more and more of Earth's population will demand light bulbs. That means aggregate energy demand will increase no matter how efficient light bulbs become.

You said:

"We have better insulation materials and warmer clothing than ever before available to the masses."

Again. So what? More people buying more houses that are filled with more insulation still consume a growing aggregate amount of energy.

You said:

"We could as a society reduce our oil usage dramatically in a decade, even in five years if we chose."

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. We can reduce our direct INDIVIDUAL oil consumption. But the electricity to recharge our electric vehicles will come from a power station running on fossil fuels until we replace all of them with nuclear facilities. Nothing we do will reduce the world's daily oil consumption except running out of oil.

The world consumes 85 million barrels of oil per day. That number will hit 110 million barrels per day in the next decade. China and India account for a large part of the increase. But every nation with a growing population and increasing prosperity will add to the amount of oil consumed each day.

Solar energy will become a good source too. But oil will never cost more than the alternatives.

You claimed:

"We are right now in the midst of breakthrough mass led (light bulb) techonology and newer generations of materials to greatly enhance our electric and electronic technology."

You are dreaming. Light bulbs will improve. But there are no huge leaps ahead.

You said:

"We can build new and safe nuclear reactors that can't melt down if we want. We can rebuild our electrical grid to be more energy efficient."

How much should we spend on these improvements? Safe nuclear plants are costly to build and operate. Rebuilding the national electrical grid is a Trillion-Dollar project. But I don't know how many trillions, although it is certainly much more than one trillion.

You claimed:

"There are tons of things we can do that would solve the problem, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and whole new green industries we can become the first to master and thereby create new export markets for ourselves."

You are dreaming again. However, Puget Energy in Washington signed a deal today (4/24)to make electricity from cow shit. True. No joke.

Your conspiracy-theory showed when you said:

"If we ever get a government not run by the current group of dominant corporations, but rather a more open and dynamic goverenment run by both the people and companies that get on the same page to solve these problems. That will by definition cut many ceo's pay, many wallstreet bonuses, many of the big banks power, and make hedge funds less profitable."

All nonsense. However, if you follow hedge funds, you will see that more and more are having problems. Many are struggling because a lot of their investment strategies are unoriginal and ineffective.

You said:

"It will still create a lot of new wealth but it will redistribute it more democratically based on different measures than what we are saddled with today."

You are still in your dream state. The reason some people become immensely wealthy is "leverage." Markets are now Global. They will become more "global" as prosperity spreads.

You mistakenly claim:

"It will do all the things Nader never could, yet be a great growth engine for the country at the same time, but more democratically distributed, more eagletarian based on skills other than simply levarage and accounting shenanigans that made the big boys so much money in the past years."

Fraud and deceptions, financial shenanigans, corruption and trickery will always account for a small fraction of commerce. However, as history has shown, the worst offenders have been the communist governments. Business in communist countries has always dominated by a corrupt class of controllers who put no value on competition and quality. Hence, not one world-class manufactured product has come out of a communist country.

[Chickensh*tEagle]

"Hence, not one world-class manufactured product has come out of a communist country."

Umm...the AK47 comes to mind.

[chris]

chickenshit, the AK-47 is not a consumer item, BUT, more important, the K-47 is found most often where freedom is limited or non-existent.

If that weapon is a symbol of anything, it is a symbol of the power that keeps millions, if not a billion people under the control of various despots and tyrants.

Meanwhile, machine guns like the AK-47 are not complex mechanisms.

[lc2]

I'm reminded of the great actor Steve Martin's singularly powerful line from the movie "Roxanne" .... when the bumbling firefighter character (Chris) is on the verge of wrecking Martin's character's efforts to woo Roxanne ...

"Shut up, Chris!"

[Chickensh*tEagle]

chris: "...the AK-47 is not a consumer item, BUT, more important, the K-47 is found most often where freedom is limited or non-existent.

Excuse me, you said "world-class manufactured product," not "symobl" or "consumer item" (although the AK has become so ubiquitous you could almost call it that.)

One big reason for that popularity is its very non-complexity, which makes for ease of maintenance and reliability under harsh conditions. For that reason, many U.S. troops in Vietnam preferred it to the much more sophisticated (and less reliable) M-16. It is indeed a "world-class manufactured product" whether or not you like its origin or ideological associations.

[Brian]

Chris, I think the major flaw in your thinking is you don't understand the marginal cost concept and how that fulcrum completely changes whatever cycle has pendulated to the extreme. The only way to really get to that is limit theorum in calculus and differential rates. Its a dynamic that fixes a change point, whether it be in energy efficieny, cost basis, or even human behavior as in brownian motion and crowd control. Its reported brownian motion was one of Einstien's first puzzles to study in his evolution as an observer and theorist. You are just rehashing repubilican "fox-news" talking points. Being an engineering grad doesn't automatically mean one understands science at all, but only its technical application to real world, usually simple problems. I don't think you get how profound the interactions in a complex variable problem in multi-dimensions colors the picture and brings it alive. I don't think you even understand how two dimensional arithmetic solutions are not the same as geometrically evolving solutions. You just don't get chaos theory. But republican talking points never do as it doesn't embrace real world living, but grandstands in its egotistical supposed "expertise" while ignoring real world phenommena and replacing that with rote, rigid thinking, and religiousity as their ultimate solution for what they don't want to put the energy into working out. Gotta really look in real time to really see. You even ignore the advaces of material science that have a profound effect on energy efficency. You can even buy a little kit to build a hydrogen fuel cell play car for $100 for kids from a variety of electronic toy kit manufacturers. Engineers are different people and have different ideas, and thankgoodness some had some good new fresh ideas to solve old stagnant problems. Not everyone can do that. Mullholland comes to mind in how he provided a viable water supply for Los Angeles and what a profound effect it had on the growth of that huge desert city. He was part engineer, part politician, and a great salesman and bringer together of people to do big projects. Panama Canal a French failure as they gave up trying to finish it, yet an American success as it was given over to a new group of engineers with a "can do" mentality.

[chris]

chickenshit, a few points.

The fact that the AK-47 is a reliable weapon and that millions have been manufactured does not change the accuracy of my statement. Even societies with no expertise at manufacturing quality products get lucky on rare occasions. The Soviet Union got lucky with the AK-47.

The Soviets were generous too. They gave the blueprints for the AK-47 to China, which has had more success with its manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the M-16 had flaws that were corrected. As for American forces using AK-47s collected on the battlefield, well, there were cases. But almost all of them would have occurred in the early part of the Vietnam War -- into 1967 -- before the M-16 was improved.

The M-16 jammed mainly due to the nature of the powder used in the cartridges. That was changed and the weapon became instantly more reliable. Another problem occurred due to the mechanism. It required regular cleaning. That, too, was addressed.

Third, the AK-47 fired 7.62 mm rounds. The M-16 fired 5.56 mm rounds. Thus, unless US Forces obtained lots of 7.62 mm ammunition along with the AK-47s, they were not useful for long.

I stick with my earlier statement: The AK-47 is a world-class symbol of Tyranny and Oppression. Outside of Russia and China, the countries with the largest arsenals of AK-47s are the countries with the least freedom.

You can be sure that where AK-47s are prevalent, there is virtually ZERO manufacturing, with the exception of Russia and China. Of course Russia still lacks the skill to manufacture world-class non-military products.

[chris]

Brian, in short, your comment is undermined because you have been victimized by the logical issue of Fallacy of Composition.

That aside, you also seem to think that if the world were able to overcome the shortcoming with which you have painted me --

"I don't think you get how profound the interactions in a complex variable problem in multi-dimensions colors the picture and brings it alive. I don't think you even understand how two dimensional arithmetic solutions are not the same as geometrically evolving solutions. You just don't get chaos theory."

-- that peace and prosperity would define all human life. Of course if these abstruse thoughts of yours are understood by a mere handful of deep thinkers, such as yourself, then the only method of guiding humanity to the supposed benefits means we must submit to a global government with totalitarian power.

Sorry. Won't happen.

As for mentioning Mulholland and the Panama Canal, well, water is easy stuff. Water projects are mostly mechanical/civil engineering projects that handle collection and delivery of water. There is some chemistry needed to assure water quality. Nature plays the largest role.

Then there is waste-water treatment and basic water treatment. Americans are superb at this. But most countries are less good.

The Panama Canal is just a big mechanical and civil engineering project. As you might know, a new set of locks are to be built. Construction may have already started.

The French may have failed. So what? The project depended on brute force. Not scientific and engineering genius that is required for the development of batteries with high energy density or systems that separate water into hydrogen and oxygen for less than it costs to buy gasoline.

These are not "marginal cost" issues. In fact, the battery issue requires an Einstein. Hydrogen production and fuel-cell technology will probably succumb to the thinking of a mere genius, enough of whom are in training today at MIT, Cal Tech and other top-notch schools.

[chris]

lc2,

your dedication to reading my comments is commendable, especially because reading them might endanger your mental health.

[lc2]

I for one will confess to some impatience and disgust with the Bush voting blocs just now waking up to the all-too-predictable nightmare they endorsed -- twice. I mean I'm tired of hearing people who were stupid enough to care more about gay marriage and professed Jesus-love than things Jesus truly hated, like violence and greed, now whining like they were duped. They knew exactly what they were getting!!

I know it's wrong to say "told you so. But I also don't feel like bailing out people who thought more highly of someone with a lesbian child who nonentheless wants to squash the rights of other people's homosexual children, than they do of someone who proposed common-sense measures to protect civil rights and end this godforsaken war.

My love for my fellow Americans is greater than the buffoon who currently leads us, but his smirking manipulations have seriously chipped away at my sense of civic duty.

[lc2]

Haha, that's where you're wrong, chris. I stopped reading them eons ago. They're b-o-r-i-n-g. But if it makes you happy, post away.

[Brian]

Did you know Fox news had a clock ticking of when would Obama answer their invitation to do an interview where they could pick him apart for months to come. The media has crossed the line from reporting and analyzing the news to "making the news>" Fox, rupert murdoch the Australian right winger with tabloid distinctions has undertaken for himself to make America's news and influence our political process. I really think this is way overstepping the line and his license to broadcast should be put in hearings before the public and revoked frankly. He is distorting our political process by "making the news." He isn't alone. Time Warners AOL sign on page had a picture of the black groom shot to death on his wedding day? in a car in new york city with the headlines the police officers were found not guilty. Right below that in the same box was a picture of John Mccain laughing about something totally different. But by juxtaposing the two pictures together they were inflamming the racial tensions and making it a racial story. In fact several of the police officers involved were black and other than white. I don't agree with their tactics of firing 100 rounds into a parked car inhabited by passengers who hadn't even shot at them over an issue of whether one officer thought he saw a gun or not. That's murder in my book and not self defense. Firing into a car will definitely just kill everybody and I have seen video of say the orange county shooting of a driver in a parking lot barely moving a couple of miles an hour where the police said their lives were in danger, but in fact he was blocked in fairly well and they were standing on the sides of the car, not in front or back of it. But anyways, this disturbing trend of making the news is now in Murdoch's empire and Time Warner's and its the end of a democracy protected by a free press. Making the news goes way beyond biased reporting. I noticed Combs shutting down Huckleberry without letting him even answer his questions yesterday with various accusations, yet Huckleberry was making a very good analysis of the 911 terrorists in a way I had never heard before, but thought. The media is turning poisonious and brazenly so. I noticed how Chris Wallace talked over President Clinton in his interview and was shameless in doing so. Why has the press become so arrogant? Probably has something to do with them being so overpaid and their star system.

[Chickensh*tEagle]

chris: "I stick with my earlier statement: The AK-47 is a world-class symbol of Tyranny and Oppression."

Earlier, not earliest. To repeat your earliest, it was, "Hence, NOT ONE [emphasis mine] world-class manufactured product has come out of a communist country."

I cited one, proving that statement false. So that's that.

[Brian]

At least Nobel funded the noble peace prize foundation with his profits from blowing people up which continues even till today. The russian inventor of the AK-47 didn't feel guilt apparently for shooting up nations of people and destablizing entire regions of the world flooded with his cheap but deadly weopon. One that artisans can construct from scratch in the mountainous Pakistani regions for a fee and custom build it as commissioned. There is a good story reporting on this too that is separate from the terror connection. Also isn't russian vodka a good liquour and desired much like the famed cuban cigar? So there are too fine products even Americans desire and are willing to pay for. There are also many types of checkered scarf's and pullovers and upper torso belts made by various regions in the former communist countries that apparently are popular. And the reason Americans don't feast on borsch is there isn't any real borsch belt here in an agricultural sense. Purple beet and sour cream soup may one day gain a foothold even here as people tire of the famed burrito just as they tired of spaghetti just as they tired of whatever in God's name the puritans ate on NON-Thanksgiving days. I suppose a lot of maize and cheap bread, and fresh veggies in the summer and fall. Winters would be dependent on the root cellar and a lot of tubers and boiled earthly stew soups lacking much if any meat. Pea soup and corn indian pudding, cheap bread, and cider much of which would ferment into an homegrown bruno to go with the plum wine. I suppose samsung and sony and toyota are making the world class products these days for retail, but the US still makes some of the best machine parts and engines as they are muscular enough to warrant some real effort. Still let us not forget while the ceo's of toyota and samsung and such get paid a couple of million a year, the ceos of comparable industrial US companys get paid in the tens of millions a year, with their stock options which usually work out to often more. Besides if the stock market tanks they can just sell them and back date the sell date to the high point in the market, borrow some company money and get loan forgiveness, and get the taxes paid on their bonuses in addition to the bonus. Plus worry not as their city condo will be paid for by the company so they can enjoy their country and vacation homes without all the bother of occasionally haveing to be near work. Hopefully they will get a driver, an executive cafteria and wash room, and a few no-brainer sitting board positions with other companys to cement their influence and perk their total compensation. Much like attending a PTA meeting quarterly in reality. REad a little boilerplate, an occasional proposal or new hire application, ask a few questions common sense could answer and make a few votes. Go home and feel important and get 30-50,000 extra a year for doing so.

[chris]

Brian,

The NY City (Queens) trial of the cops accused in the death of Sean Bell was not a murder, as the defense showed. Also, the cops fired 50 shots, not 100, but more important, when cops shoot at a suspect they shoot to kill. Whether they fire one shot or 50, the goal is to kill the person or persons they're aiming at.

The tragic shooting occurred outside a strip club known for the criminal activity occurring inside and outside the building. The victims behaved suspiciously and then a couple of mistakes caused the cops to believe they were in mortal danger. They shot three people and killed one. There are over 2 million handguns in NY City. A lot of them are in the hands of criminals, and a lot of armed criminals hang around strip clubs in this city.

As for Time Warner and the positioning of photos and articles. Please. A photo of McCain laughing beside an article about the death of Sean Bell? Who cares. REally? Who cares?

Outside of NY City, NOBODY knows or cares about Sean Bell.

As for Obama, he's trapped by the facts of his own past. His association with Reverend Wright is probably enough to sink him in November if he wins the nomination. But there is another photo of a smiling Obama with his arm around Al Sharpton.

White voters will not elect a black candidate to the presidency who will invite Al Sharpton to the White House. Meanwhile, Sharpton said he was organizing a march to Shut Down New York City as a result of the Sean Bell verdict. He held a rally on Saturday and his followers chanted "Kill the Police."

Obama is linked to Sharpton and Sharpton is leading people who shout "Kill the Police."

Thus, Obama is linked to people who advocate killing the police. Add that to his Rev Wright problems and he loses in a landslide. Worse for Obama is Wright's next move. Wright is appearing at the National Press Club to "explain" everything about his request that "God Damn America".

Wright is a foolish bigmouth who may singlehandedly destroy Obama's candidacy. I'm sure Hillary will put a lot of cash in the collection plate at the Trinity Unity Church after Obama collapses from too much of the Wright Stuff.

Meanwhile, you are mistaken if you think Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Alan Combs, Bill O'Reilly, Randi Rhodes or Al Franken are "news reporters."

Who cares if Wallace talks over Bill Clinton? Clinton has become an angry ex-president with his own ax to grind. But he can get a hundred reporters to interview and they'll even let him write his own questions. But who cares about him? He's a sideline player now.

I'm doubtful about his support for Hillary. His life would suffer if she won.

Anyway, the leading gasbags are all entertainers whose schtick is politics. They have large constituencies because they excite people through political talk that hits listeners and viewers in a visceral way. Nothing intellectual about any of them. They don't appeal to anyone's higher parts.

[Brian]

I am not a repub or demo or libro but I do believe in each person's right to put their potential to the max good without oppression. That aside, Its indefensible for cops to shoot to kill period. To shoot to survive or stop killing is another matter, but that means wounding is more than enough and to then shoot even more to kill is plain wrong. Call me a moralist. Sean Bell I don't know, but it has been reported that 100 shots were fired, though recently they seem to be downgrading that to 50. Either way its filling the inside of a car with a lethal spray of lead designed to kill everybody, as in voluntary manslaughter or murder, take your pick. Police in Los Angeles filled an suv with a spray of lead simply because "they thought he" etc etc and he didn't "stop". Its indefensible. The only time they should shoot is when either being shot at by a person or when they see a gun clearly coming into a play and are truely "sure". Screwdrivers and cellphones being aimed at them don't count as guns. Please. Clearly they can be trained to be more discriminting and exacting as to when they shoot. The police should never be encouraged to kill the populations they police. Its just wrong. If you take the race thing out of it, Wright could pass for some preacher at a University Church somewhere and what he did was exercise free speech or what are our soldjiers dying in Iraq for? Obama is half white and half black so they should neutralized each others bias out. In that case you have a Harvard trained lawyer who of course is going to be different from a bitter gun toting, scrapple eating, allentown Pennsylvanian who goes bowling on wendsday night and wins. Big surprise there. I don't know if obama is the right person for the Presidential job. I thought bush would be over gore and kerry and was totally wrong. Maybe he just ruined the republican party, forever, I don't know. Hillary is like an unstoppable machine, like terminator IV and do I want Bill Clinton back in the White House--no. But I still find Chris Wallace an arrogant excuse for a so called reporter when what he was was an inflammer. I say this simply by watching the two interact. As for the gasbag politico entertainers they do us a disservice as they blur the distinction between boundries of truth and manipulation. They are really media brownshirts lined up on teams. All of this is starting to remind me of the nascent days of post world war 1 germany and the environment Hitler came of age in. An informative biography of him chronicled his days living in Munich youth hostles dubbing as an artist as he attended political meetings at night. This is what is happening in America now, except its modern times, the media and public concourse are in digital space, but the result will be much the same. Where-ever he is among us right now will become evident probably after a more serious 9-11. What American police are doing is securing us in a big police state under the encouragement of the federal government into a seamless transfomer interchangeable duplicative police state under the guise of multi-agencies that team up on everything. The war on terror has morphed into ice and ice has morphed into the war on drugs and its ever expanding into more and more of our lives. Its coming. I saw Bill Moyers special on Wright and he isn't really some "bigmouth" but more a mark twain like social critic/preacher, but if you
"take the time" to just watch you will see he's really not so far out there. In fact I would say Hannity and Combs is way further out there, even more than Bill O'reilly who is appearing more a liberal libertarian all the time. It makes sense to me now that Obama would be in Wright's church and its not evil. He needs to be on the cutting edge of what people are thinking and I don't think he would get that eating scrapple at a Penna Diner necessasarily. Wright to his credit prepared his sermons, put some work into them, and produced a "production" if you will. That is what he did--its genuine. Its not gosple. Even parishoners know he's playing to the choir. He wasn't telling them or us anything we hadn't thought before. I myself have wondered about us when we dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan, choosing cities rather than some miles out at sea. Our third target was tokyo. Think about it. But Bin Laden knocks down two financial buildings and suddenly our entire country goes into such convulsions we attack a crazy Iraq over unvetted innuendo's like a bunch of maniacs. A lot of people have died. Sure many were really bad people, but what is America designated as the world's killing machine now? If bush had put troops behind tora bora which was do-able, we might have dones something competent. Instead, our imcompetence, and tons of bombs have taken many many extra lives. Lives are important I think. Yet Like Wright said, America didn't even blink or give a thought to the huge loss of life in Japan. I have thought about the arguement of preventing an invasion of Japan, but still we are probably the most aggressive nation in modern history short of fascist japan and germany. Just like swat teams burst into homes across America in search of drugs, guns, and fugitives, "they say" they burst into homes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and by proxy Pakistan, Lebanon, probably around the Syrian border, Columbia, Urguay, Mexico, and the list goes on. Of course there are some bad people there, but why do we always default into the world's policemen. Finally, so what if it was a strip club that Bell visited. Apparently it was licensed in New York City as a legitamate place of business. So does going to a strip club in America somehow immunize the police when they essentially machine gun your car with high velocity semi automatic hand guns because they claim they hear someone say something regarding a gun but see no gun? That's nuts. So now its okay for the state to murder people out for a night on the town, drinking, girls, swearing, and cocaine? That's an automatic death sentence now, right on the street? When we protect their freedom to go out and have a somewhat questionable time, we protect your right to have your own time, your own freedom. When we let the state go after them, we forget the prime directive of government here, which is to ever expand. The justice system has expanded to the point that over 2.1 million Americans are in prison, 5-7 million more on parole/probation, and many more in the court system and untold numbers with permanent records making them almost unemployable. And these people are still making babies they will never be able to provide for and we aren't helping them or ourselves any handicapping them so. Sean Bell may not be the kind of guy you want sitting at your dinner table but I am not his keeper and I wish him no malice. Not the kind that would excuse the police from doing what they did on that night where this person simply went out in the wrong part of town and hung out with the wrong crowd. He was killed because of that by the state. Suppose he went to a bar around the UN instead and ate a steak and had a few laughs? He would be alive. When in our country simply making a decision of where you are going out to can cost you your life, by the state, you should worry. Imagine a diabetic who took a shot of insulin at the restaurant, and then driving home was stopped, and the officer found a needle on him and didn't belive him and took and attitude with him and an argument and a shot rang out. It can happen to anyone of us. Remember the well to do lady who was killed in the Phoenix airport being left in cuffs unattended? She was disturbed, some say drinking, some say arguing, but all agree she is now dead by the police. This is indefensible. What they are doing to the lower classes is creeping up to the middle and upper classes now. This is how fascism expands, and we are now in the phase where class barriers are being broken to the point where everyone is suspect and vulnerable. Bell was murdered even if he was a handful. Wright has been maligned even if he spoke the truth. Obama is being trashed even if he is black. We are being stripped of our freedoms, even if we are Americans. What you should ask, if anything, is who is benifitting from all this? Or are we going mad as a nation. It should occur to people al queda works by first using one bomb to attract people in to rescue the others and then using a second bomb, and third and so forth. He has tricked us into over-responding and now we are so burdened with paranoia and wepons we are shooting our selves in our own foot in the rush to assuage our paranoia and national narcissism. We can never kill all the evil on earth no matter how many wars we endlessly wage as it will still be lurking within us. America needs therapy, and our next president should be on that page.

[chris]

Brian,

The acquittal of the cops who shot Sean Bell does NOT grant police the right to shoot unarmed citizens. No one, including you, seems to realize that NY City cops RARELY fire their weapons. In comparison to other big-city police departments, the NYPD is positively tame. The number of mistakes made by cops in these situations is small.

But if you expect perfection, then it is not possible to operate a police force comprising human beings. Mistakes will happen. Doctors make mistakes, yet they are not deciding their next moves when thugs may be shooting at them.

If the NYPD were trigger-happy, then your outrage might have some legitimacy. But NY cops are as restrained as cops can be. On the other hand, plenty of bullets fly from the guns of thugs. They usually hit other thugs or innocent victims in the wrong place at the wrong time, sometimes flying through open windows and hitting people having a cup of coffee.

Fortunately, the murder total in NY City fell to 485 in 2007. That's down from 2,250 in 1991. Thus, thousands and thousands of NY citizens are alive due to a decrease in gun violence over the last 17 years. Many factors have combined to reduce the death toll, but there is no doubt policing has contributed to the decline. Hence, there is no reason to believe life in NY City would improve if the police were less intense. But, as always, there's a huge outcry from some people who want to believe the police are the leading threat to life and limb, rather than the thugs who find victims every day.

Why is there such a willing acceptance of MURDER when it is a daily occurrence perpetrated mainly by blacks and hispanics in NY City, but utter outrage when the NYPD makes a tragic mistake and kills ONE person whose behavior -- upon investigation -- violated only relatively minor laws?

[chris]

P.S. Brian,

The cops in the Sean Bell case fired 50 shots. The fact that you have accepted media claims of 100 shots fired shows your willingness to believe what you read even when contrary proof is abundant. If 100 shots had been fired, you can be sure the prosecution would have made hay with that claim. But the prosecution and the defense acknowledged 50 shots were fired, which is the number reported in the NY press in the original coverage of the shooting. But people who wish to paint the NYPD as a bunch of trigger-happy blue-suited killers like the higher number, even though it is false.

[Monica]

Guys, there is a simple way to solve economic problems, but only for those who participate. For now, I am not providing the actual company name or link because I don't want you to say that I'm just spamming. But basically, some MLM company (serious, it existed for several years) is providing a guarantee that, even if you are not recruiting anyone, if you just keep paying some (low, or relatively low) monthly fees (for which they sell you product, too), after a certain period of time, you start making commissions every month from that point. If only more people found out and had the patience to actually read the information, many of the poor would get out of poverty.

Don't worry: I am not going to bother you about business opportunities. But it's nice to know that something like that exists. When I hear of poverty and unemployment, now I feel like laughing, since I am aware that the problem could be solved so easily. But it saddens me when someone just rejects the idea, probably without having considered it. Because I'm not saying that I'll get rich, but even something like 1000 to 1500 bucks per month for doing nothing a couple of years from the time I started is still something.

[Mical Caterina]

I hope the truckers block all streets & access to Washington DC. Make those bafoons in DC walk their fat A$$es to work for a week or two and maybe they'll do something to relieve high fuel prices to those who have to make a living!!!

[Anarcissie]

There is nothing the buffoons in DC can do about high fuel prices. They are not gods and cannot change the laws of physics and economics. They, and you, used up all the cheap gas. Now you have to buy the expensive gas. Get used to it.

[Brian]

Like I said they have to stop shooting at people holding cell phones,,screwdrivers, scowls, and making mumbo jumbo. Its a reasonable request. If they feel a situation is dangerous, stand back, or around a building edge dial in the radio and reaccess. Where is someone going to go once they are scrutinized so? Its okay to take some time to access. I am not demonizing all the officers but there are certain tendency that come into play among some of the boys in blue. They have to be somewhat aggressive with "issues" to begin with or they wouldn't want to be policing others as their career. Maybe they are the countervailing power that keeps the "thugs" and criminals in check when they run amuck. But its still indefensible to me about the particular act of shooting endless rounds into a car full with people. Its still volunatry manslaughter even if under the guise of the color of law. Apparently as such a kind society we are prepared to allow this to keep "our safety". Sounds counterdictory to me. Like a high speed chase through city streets because some idiot raced away from a traffic stop. I would err on saving a life, even if they are a pain, rather than just start blasting away. How can you even be so sarcastic as to negate that?The principle remains though, 50 or 100 shots is a darn lot of shots inside a car. comeon! The intent was for no-one to come walking out.

[swampfox]

I have noticed that there have been few or no comments here as to how the "Green Weenie" environmentalists with all their onerous crap is greatly contributing to the problems discussed here, e.g. making it next to impossible to develop our own energy resources here or build refineries, or nuclear power plants etc. These environmentalists have ended up "working" for the energy companies by further enabling them to maintain shortages with the rediculous prices we are seeing. Another good example of environmentalist asininity which should help ruin destroy many independent truckers is that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California will require that only very late model or brand new fuel specific trucks be used to haul freight. Condsidering that some of these new trucks may cost upwards of $120K or more, and that the cost of fuel is going out of sight, few independents will likely be able to afford this. This is just another example of how we continue to "screw ourselves". We desprately need to reign in of some of the collateral damage being created by the da--ed environmentalists' crap too!!

[chris]

swampfox is on target.

Environmentalists are the true cause of high energy prices. High prices are the consequence of their actions.

Some environmental rules are good. But even if they are good, it is likely they are responsible for the unintended consequence of higher prices.

On the other hand, many environmentalists believe that higher prices enforce the form of consumer discipline they seek. Europe is their model.

The best bet is to open all US territory to drilling. There are 80 BILLION barrels of proved reserves in US territory that is now off-limits to drillers. Ridiculous!

Government meddling is the only real obstacle. Less government intrustion would lead to lower energy prices. Since oil reserves are FINITE, why worry about how long they will last? Just use the oil until it's gone. Problem solved.

[chris]

Brian, it seems you are part of the crowd that believes cops are blasting away at innocent citizens every day.

There are about 15,000 homicides committed in the US each year. How many wrongful deaths occur at the hands of cops each year?

Sean Bell is ONE. He was wrongly killed in 2006. New York City might have gotten all the way through 2007 without a similar mistake.

Meanwhile, it's worth mentioning that about a week after Sean Bell was wrongfully killed by police, another black man of similar age, who was also about to get married, was killed. The second fellow was murdered by a NY City thug. Not a cop. Hence, no outrage.

The NYPD makes about 400,000 arrests a year. In the line of duty NYC cops rarely fire their weapons. There are 38,000 cops on the force and I think they fired a total of less than 200 shots in 2007.

As I've said, murders total around 500. But a lot of thugs are lousy shots. They wound their intended victims and too often hit innocent bystanders. Thugs wound an additional 1,500 victims in NY City. There's a lot of guns around.

[William Fraser]

I'm wondering if all truckers are complaining that they can't make it in this environment, why they don't change more?

Should this fuel cost be sent on to the shippers (and thus presumably to the companies that want their stuff shipped).

[Brian]

Chris-if by thug you mean a demonic individual possessed of hate and rage and bad checks and foul language with his pants handing down round his ankles as he goes about round in public, who wears black insignia hats on backwards and a fist on his shirt with curse words and a bleached white tee shirt or shiny sports jersey, I can see what you mean. This is what happens when someone isn't raised by a Dad who cares in addition to a single mom who works. I suppose you could make an argument the economy creates these monsters or if your in the justice racket its from their own "choices."

[T]

YES-I HAVE A CDL-IF THE POLITICANS OF THIS COUNTRY-CAN BACK EVERY TYPE OF BIZ-THAT HITS A FINANCIAL BUMP- I.E.-INSURANCE COMPANIES AFTER KATRINA-BEAR STERNS-AND EVERY OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION --FARMERS FOR NOT GROWING CROPS=WHEN THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE GOING HUNGRY-WHY CAN"T THEY BACK TRUCKERS-AND THE REST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE US ON FUEL PRICES-THIS IS JUST BUSHES LAST CHANCE FOR ALL HIS OIL BUDDIES FROM THIS COUNTRY AND THE MIDDLE EAST TO RUN MONEY INTO THERE POCKETS-ITS A NO BRAINER-HE WAS A LAME DUCK WHEN HE BEGAN--NOW HE HAS TURNED OUR ECONOMY AND ALL OF US INTO LAME DUCKS--GOD SPEED TO ALL OF THE WORKING CLASS-THERE WONT BE ANY OF THE MIDDLE CLASS LEFT, IT WILL BE THE RICH AND THE VERY POOR.

[MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ]

RECENTLY I'VE RUN ACROSS A WEB SITE OF THE NEW CARS BEING BUILT IN INDIA THAT RUNS ON AIR FOR $18,000 EACH, SO WHY CANT YOU CHECK THIS OUT AND SEE IF THEY CAN MAKE TRUCKS THE SAME WAY, EVEN IF YOUR SPEEDS WOULD SLOW YOU DOWN A BIT, AT LEAST YOU CAN TRY TO BETTER THE SITUATION AND I KNOW OF ANOTHER OIL SOURCE MAYBE? I'VE BEEN WAITING ON BUSH.

[MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ]

I'M THE DISASTER SOLUTIONIST MASTER== I SOLVE DISASTERS AND HAVE PUT IN FOR A $15 BILLION GRANT TO START THE FIRST STEP TO DELETE GLOBAL WARMING. AN INVENTOR TOO. I'VE DESIGNED A NEW RV THAT CAN CARRY A VEHICLE, MAKE A FULL MEAL FOR 2 IN MINUTES,MAKE FRESH WATER OUT OF DAMPNESS, REFRIGERATE WITHOUT POWER,HUMAN WASTE TURNED INTO FERTILIZER FOR FLOWERS, 78 FEET LONG AND CAN PARK ANYWHERE WITHOUT RE-FUELING, FOOD SHOPPING AND AM DESIGNING FLIGHT LIKE A HELICOPTER DRIVE ON WATER LIKE A SURFACE VESSEL. NOW i'M PICKING OUT CERTAIN INVENTORS FOR THIS PROJECT THAT WILL SELL FOR $75,000.00 EACH SO FAR. YOU SEE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN OTHERS TELL YOU YOUR ONE OF THE SMARTEST GUY ON EARTH, 3 AWARDS FOR IT THIS YEAR. AND ON A BUDGET ABOUT TO BE FORECLOSED ON AND BROKE, BUT RETIRED WITH A PENSION. http://www.inventube.com/ooojay/view-blog/114/

[MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ]

YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE ECONOMY FOR THE GOOD? HAVE A FEDERAL LAW CHANGED FOR 2 YEARS= TO ALLOW THE BANKS TO LEASE THEIR FORECLOSURES FOR 2 YEARS AT 1/2 OF THEIR PAYMENTS, FREEZE ALL CREDIT CARDS INTEREST AT 12% SO EACH CAN PAY THEM ALL OFF. AFTER 2 YEARS RESIGN NEW CONTRACTS FOR FORECLOSURES AT AFFORTABLE PAYMENTS. ECONOMY. HAVE OUR GOVERNMENT START BUYING STOCK, BY JUST BUYING STOCK IN SAME QUANITY AT SAME PRICE AS SOLD EACH DAY30 MINUTES BEFOREING CLOSING. THIS WILL SAVE OUR RETIREES, NOT ME BUT THE ELDERLY. MY THOUGHTS ARE EITHER OR BOTH JAPAN=CHINA SO IF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT BUYS UP EACH LOSS OR SOLD STOCK FOR THAT DAY, IT KEEPS WALL STREET AND OUR ECONOMY FULLY OPERATIONAL AND THEIR WONT BE A COLLAPSE OF OUR ECONOMY. ALSO http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/First-Step-for-the-Solution-to-Global-Warming.103109

[Anonamous]

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing you on behalf of a lot of truckers and there spouses of OTR drivers, on the new Pet Policy. I am the wife of one of your drivers, OTR. I employ you to reconsider this action; here are some of the reasons;

1. Protection; for female or solo drivers, (rape, etc…), and theft of equipment and driver personal effects, /get out and look if not sure, when parking, this leaves the driver vulnerable and vehicle\, (Even Ins. won’t pay for two years after, on a stolen vehicle) and (Money lost on load, and future miles for that truck and driver), (time lost filing reports), (money lost getting another truck to driver or visa versa), a torn seat cover or seat belt is cheaper. (There is-reasonable pet deposit) The cost to train a new driver is more expensive than letting them protect them selves with a pet. Do you want them to carry guns or weapons??

2. Health; makes driver walk pet (weight control), Reduces stress (road rage), and Lowers blood pressure (heart attacks and anxiety) etc…. This saves money on medical expenses for you and the driver.

3. Companion when there are not able to talk to anyone else, (family or friends), or for some reason have no two legged children or a spouse. Like people with a child, we love our child, too. Just because they are animals does not make them not needed for sanity on the road of chaos.

If hiring good drivers are a company priority then you might think if they can care and keep an animal alive and well then your company is alive and well.
There is one shipper and receiver that makes you leave your spouse outside gate (in the weather) are you going to stop letting spouses and two legged kids go along also? Shippers and receivers are pushing this animal thing to far.
We all understand money is so tight, with fuel costs and hirer prices on Ins., repairs, employees, etc….. This is why we can not buy our own truck in this day and age. But when things are hard you don’t take away one of the reasons to work and work for you. I have the understanding that Crete is doing this because many drivers won’t do the load or can’t find a place to leave the animal or wife in some cases. You the carrier need to be the one to start-to stop this before it takes the spouses out of the truck.
My husband and I (wife not driver) really like being a part of the Crete family. We like and believe in what your doing (no debt), (working equipment), etc…… But I now have to stay home till my pet passes away. (Could be years) I wanted to train a new dog for the truck while my other one is still alive, (training is easier). I have always had a pet for all the reasons I mentioned. I need them in my life like I need my husband, and want to be with him.
I know people are quitting or DUMPING the pets on someone that will not LOVE them like the owner. This would not be happening if money wasn’t at the bottom of this problem, but is it really worth hurting people and living things? Are you really saving that much money?

Sincerely,
Sad and Lonely for my Hubby

[TruckerDesiree]

I am New to Trucking, a Woman who has been driving only 13 months.
I had no prior affiliation to the trucking industry.
The rigors of moving freight effectively, the logistics has many challenges, much of the failures in communication to move this freight leaves the individual driver holding the bag.
I have been writing about my Student Trucker experience and I am present on Twitter.
As I uncover this world I am sickened by how much Government Oversight & Greed has permitted Lobby Groups to stick it to the hard working Men & Women who stay up day & night , risking their lives to deliver America's Food & Clothing.
In a series of articles that a few Truckers have recently contributed to for the parking situation in Virginia, people have started to turn up the volume and listen to what is happening to one of the last American Industries we barely have left in this country.
I believe we can make a difference if you write, write, and participate.
The recruitment process in Trucking is somewhat link the mortgage scam.
It perpetuates a false drivers shortage.
Everyone is making commissions.
Students, like international workers are a cheap labor resource.
This is a very complex web of deceit upon the American Public.
This is a time all people need to wake up & see past the brash image of the trucker & look at the industry.
We have lost enough in our economy.
We have seen enough corporate scandal.
I am saddened more thatthe subsidies, Tax credits, commissions take advantage of displaced people with a total disregard for their true success in this field.
I see people tricked into "lease-options", Student Loans & left to sit with no-freight.
The improprieties are to numerous to mention.
Advocate Groups who say they intend to clean up the image of truckers & assist them in success seem nothing more than recruitment vehicles for mega-training schools.
It's all very disturbing