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Truckers park rigs in protest freight rates, diesel prices fuel strike

By Reed Fujii - San Joaquin Record Staff Writer, May 06, 2008

For the second time in four years, hundreds of independent truck drivers went on strike Monday against companies that hire them to haul cargo containers out of railroad terminals near Stockton.

And again, as in 2004, the issue was the failure of freight rates to keep up with rapidly rising fuel prices.

Ajit Gill of Stockton, a truck owner-operator and a spokesman for strikers, said the truckers face fuel costs that have more than doubled since 2004, as well as higher costs for insurance, stiffer inspection fees and more. But freight rates have not kept pace.

"There is nothing raised," he said Monday by cell phone.

The drivers would prefer to keep working, if it was practical.

"Unfortunately, we have to stop," Gill said. "Nobody can afford $4.35 diesel."

The strike's immediate impact was uncertain.

Zoe Richmond, Sacramento spokeswoman for Union Pacific Railroad Co., said there was a "minor impact" on her company's giant cargo terminal near Lathrop.

"Situations like this always impact your business, if nothing else at least slightly," she said by telephone, adding, "It's good to have situations that are peaceful so that people can get their message out and other work can continue, because we do have a responsibility to our customers."

A spokeswoman for BNSF Railway said the strike had "no impact" on the company's intermodal facility south of Stockton.

Neither railroad hires the truckers itself.

San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies were called to Roth and Harlan roads off Interstate 5, where strikers had gathered, but reported no problems Monday afternoon.

"We just make sure all laws are abided by," said Deputy Les Garcia, a department spokesman.

Gill said the strike in 2004 ended with an agreement that drivers would get a fuel surcharge, a percentage of the base rate for a given hauling job, as diesel prices increase.

Currently, the fuel surcharge should be 55 percent, but often drivers don't get that, or something less, he said.

"They're always cheating us on the fuel charge," Gill said.

Instead, what the strikers want is for companies to simply double the base rates and forget the surcharges.

"We're giving up a 55 percent fuel charge back to them," he said.

Dave Sanders, co-owner of California Freight Sales in Ripon, one of the companies affected by the strike, said he was not involved in negotiations.

However, he acknowledged the pain being caused by high diesel costs.

"It's a sad deal, and I feel for the drivers," he said."

"Everybody should get paid the fuel (surcharge) and ... some drivers are saying they don't get paid fuel."

A reporter's calls to other trucking companies were not returned Monday.

Contact reporter Reed Fujii at (209) 546-8253 or [email protected].