Truckers Loudly Call for Action to Rein in Fuel Prices

WASHINGTON — With horns blaring and American flags flying from their cabs, hundreds of truckers drove around Capitol Hill in a driving rain Monday in a gear-jamming, engine-revving, ear-splitting protest against high fuel prices.

"The economy is going down because the price of gas is going up," said Ron Winger, a Pennsylvania trucker.

David Ayers, a songwriter from Atlanta, provided the sound track for the demonstration with his song, "What Are They Going to Do When the Big Rigs Don't Roll?"

The chorus goes: "The only trick I get for my truck/Is the jack in the price when I fill it up./It's like pumping my money down an endless hole./But what are they going to do when the big rigs don't roll?"

"It's not just the truckers" who are hurting from high fuel costs, said Ayers, who came to the rally with the co-writer, Barry Allen of Nashville. "It's everybody in the United States, all working people."

"It's an awesome song," said Robert Olson, a protest organizer from Mechanicsville, Pa. "It drives the point right home."

After driving into the nation's capital, the convoy circled through the National Mall at the base of Capitol Hill before parking at RFK Stadium. Then the drenched drivers marched over to call on Congress.

They urged a moratorium on fuel prices, a halt to subsidies for big oil companies, release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and more domestic oil production, among other things.

Mark Kirsch, an independent trucker from Myerstown, Pa., said members of Congress have done nothing so far to ease the crisis and needs to act now. Otherwise, they should feel the wrath of the electorate in November.

"It they're not going to get off their butts, then we need to get somebody else in there who will do something," said Kirsch.

"We're looking at nearly $1,000 to fill a truck up," said Jamie Barnhart, an owner-operator from Washington, D.C., who said the tank on his truck holds a little more than 200 gallons. "Two years ago, it was $500, and I can remember when I could fill my tank for $165. We've got to put a moratorium on fuel prices."

Indeed, the average price that truckers paid for diesel fuel reached a new record of more than $4.18 a gallon, an increase of 3.4 cents per gallon since last week, the federal Energy Information Administration reported Monday.

The mid-Atlantic states, where Barnhart is based, had the highest prices, averaging $4.38 a gallon for diesel, while the Gulf Coast had the cheapest average price of over $4.11 a gallon.

Participants said about 350 trucks took part in the protest, which was organized by a group called Truckers and Citizens Unite.

"We're running our trucks for zero profit," said William Lockridge, another independent trucker from the District. "We need to go into the (strategic oil) reserve. The whole economy is in danger. When the trucks stop, the economy stops."

Congressional Republicans rhetorically jumped aboard the convoy.

"The hundreds of truckers, whose very livelihoods depend on access to affordable fuel, in Washington represent the frustration of every American paying more than $4 a gallon for diesel and almost that much for gas," said House GOP Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.

House Republicans blamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi, R-Calif., for not addressing the problem after Democrats campaigned on a promise of lower gas prices.

"Two years ago, Speaker Pelosi promised the American people that the Democrats had a "common-sense plan" to lower rising gas prices," said House Minority Leader John Boehner. "Not only haven't we seen this plan, but prices have soared by $1.27 (a gallon) since Representative Pelosi became speaker."

Last week, Pelosi wrote to the Federal Trade Commission and urged an investigation to see if gas prices are being manipulated.

"The FTC must no longer delay action on implementing the mandate from Congress to stop market manipulation as American families and businesses struggle to deal with record gas prices," Pelosi wrote to FTC Chairman William Kovacic.