Truckers rally to protest rising fuel costs

October 5, 2000

BY TAMRA SANTANA BLOOMBERG NEWS

WASHINGTON -- More than 3,000 truckers rallied Wednesday outside 16 U.S. ports, seeking reimbursement from shipping companies for fuel costs that have risen about a third in the past year.

Port officials in Newark, New Jersey and Charleston, South Carolina, said the rallies didn't affect business. Among other ports where truckers protested were Long Beach, California; Savannah, Georgia; Chicago; New Orleans; Seattle; Philadelphia; and Houston, a Teamsters union statement said. Officials at the other ports couldn't be reached to comment.

The drivers are among an estimated 50,000 independent contractors who move cargo between ports and local customers for shipping companies such as A.P. Moeller's Maersk Sealand unit. Rising fuel prices add as much as $400 a week to the truckers' costs, said Teamsters organizer Ron Carver. The protesters want fuel surcharges that are included in shipping customers' bills paid directly to drivers, he said.

"They're not properly compensated when the fuel goes up," said Carver, who rallied with about 100 truckers outside Newark, the second-largest U.S. port. "We did not try to shut (the ports) down," though "I'm sure business has slowed."

The average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel has risen 32 percent to $1.625 a gallon as of Monday from $1.234 a year earlier. Fuel can be as much as 20 percent of a port trucker's costs. The drivers, who are paid per trip, also must pay for tires, maintenance and taxes.

The Newark rally was peaceful and didn't disrupt business, said port spokesman Allen Morrison. At Charleston, the fourth-largest port, the rally didn't affect daily operations though it raised awareness about the drivers' frustrations, said Byron Miller, a spokesman for the South Carolina State Ports Authority.

http://www.auto.com/autonews/cwire5_20001005.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 05, 2000

Answers

Should have put U.S truckers in headline.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 06, 2000.