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Published October 3, 2008 12:01 am - Independent
truck driver John Bender Jr. has a passion for the road, but the escalating
cost of diesel fuel could cause him to park his rig for good.
Truckers plan convoy to state Capitol…again
By Rick Dandes
The Daily Item
NEW
COLUMBIA --
Independent truck driver John Bender Jr. has a passion for the road, but
the escalating cost of diesel fuel could cause him to park his rig for
good.
"I'm a third-generation truck driver,"
he said Friday. "I'm addicted to trucks. This is more than a job for
me. It's a way of life."
But his livelihood -- and the national economy,
he says -- is being threatened by the high cost of diesel fuel, which on
Friday was $4.17 per gallon.
"At $4 a gallon, I just manage to break
even," he said. "But if gas keeps going up, I just don't know how
long I can continue to pass the cost along to customers."
Similar to last week’s protest and one from
early spring of this year, where over 100 protesters showed up each time,
Truckers will start lining up at 6 a.m. at Exit 77, Route 81, just outside Harrisburg.
The truckers want to draw attention to high fuel
prices, their opposition to Act 44 -- which allows for tolls to be placed
on Interstate 80 -- and the possible lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to
private investors.
On Tuesday, many truckers won't drive as a way to
highlight the importance of the industry to the economy. The trucking
industry in the Northeast and Mid-West are suffering even greater costs
from the ongoing recovery operations from Memphis,
TN to Pittsburgh, PA
caused by last week’s devastating earthquake.
"We want people to know that we are
mad," said Bender, a trucker for 16 years. “The detours and
delays caused by this earthquake is costing me a
lot of time and gas money; and I could understand if the gas prices were
still reasonable, but we’re being gouged.”
"My dad and grandfather were Teamsters and
they stood up for what they believed," Bender said.
Because they drove company trucks, they didn't
have to worry about the cost of fuel, he said.
"But the Teamsters fought for what they
thought as right," Bender said. "We have to do the same thing
now."
While truckers are organizing the rally, the
protest is for all motorists, Bender said.
Anti-Tax organizations such as Sons of Liberty and Society of Freedom
are also getting involved and may bring as many as 150 extra protesters to
the Capitol.
"Everyone who is mad about gas prices,"
he said. Everyone who is mad about the possibility of putting tolls on
I-80. We're asking you to drive your truck, your car and join us. Drive
your pickup. ... We want a big show of people. We are out to make our point
about the price of fuel."
It costs Bender $1,200 to fill the two 150-gallon
fuel tanks on his rig, which he drives an average of 3,000 miles a week.
  
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