Hundreds Of Truckers Protest High Gas Prices
Hundreds Of Truckers Protest High Gas Prices
http://www.nbc6.net/news/4832833/detail.html
POSTED: 11:02 am EDT August 10, 2005
MIAMI -- More than 600 truckers gathered in their big rigs Wednesday to protest the rising gas prices in South Florida, NBC 6's Hank Tester reported.
The trucks, which included tractor-trailers, dump trucks and box trucks, gathered at the intersection of Okeechobee Road and the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade County.
Traffic in the area was at a standstill as the trucks started a caravan headed toward Miami City Hall.
The trucks traveled 20 miles to present a petition requesting a fuel surcharge break for independently owned trucks.
The truckers claim that the high cost of gas has made it impossible for them to earn a living.
"The airlines are charging passengers. The steam ship lines are charging the shippers. Everyone who's got clout is getting a surcharge," said Ron Carver of the Teamsters Union. "But the truck drivers who have to buy their own fuel are going into bankruptcy because they don't have the clout to demand this. So they're here today asking Congress to pass a mandatory fuel surcharge to keep them afloat."
The drivers told NBC 6 that the shipping companies that contract them to haul to the Port of Miami pay around 85 cents per mile. With the high cost of gas, operating per mile could cost 60 cents.
"A lot of people are making money on this business -- the shipping line, the owner of the company, the marine terminal. They make a lot of money but we are poor," driver Luis Rivera said.
Rivera owns his own rig and contracts with shippers who he says do not adjust per mile fees to cover the increase in gas. For Rivera, what's left is not much of a living for he, his wife and kids.
"She says that this business is really wrong," Rivera said. "We don't have any money, no possibility, no American dreams. We can do nothing."
Both Telemundo 51 and NBC 6 put in calls to local shippers who contract with the drivers. None wanted to talk to the media.
Commissioner Tomas Regaldo has promised to pass the trucker's petition on to federal lawmakers.
