Truckers Protest Rising Gas Prices

From WPLG-10 News

Hundreds Of Truck Drivers Convoy To City Hall Drivers

Want Surcharge To Help With Gas Price Increases

MIAMI -- Hundreds of South Florida container truck drivers joined a 10-mile convoy to try to get legislators to enact a mandatory fuel surcharge.

The convoy, organized by the Teamsters, started on West Okeechobee Road near Hialeah Gardens and ended at Miami City Hall.

Through the noon hour, trucks and traffic were backed up down the Dolphin Expressway (836), all the way under metrorail overpass, and down 27th Avenue, all the way to City Hall on Bayshore Drive.

The convoy was followed by a large rally held at City Hall by the truck drivers.

The drivers say that they want fuel surcharges that will protect the profit margins for drivers, who they say currently carry the full burden of the increasing cost of fuel. They say they want to be able to pass on some of the burden of price increases like airlines and the train industry have done.

The trucks had signs on the doors saying, "No Mas!" (No More!), with a cartoon of a truck driver being robbed by a gas pump.

The drivers, most of whom haul containers from the Port of Miami and Port Everglades, say that they don't want to keep being forced to absorb the rising cost of fuel alone.

Juan Carver, Teamsters Union spokesperson, said, "If you don't have truck drivers you can't move the goods and really everyone in this country should be concerned that these truck drivers are able to survive and feed their families and stay in business. They are going bankrupt. They are going out of business and that is not good for America."

The Teamsters refer to the drivers as "some of the most exploited workers in the nation."

The rally was held at the city hall as a symbol of the truckers desire for legislative change. City commissioner Tomas Regalado has agreed to take their petition to the state legislature.

Everyday the gas prices go higher setting new records. We are sure to see a lot more of these style protests before long. Remember gas prices don't just affect your wallet when filling up. It also effects the cost of everything you buy from milk to electricity as well as city services.