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Truckers Protest Rising Fuel Cost

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By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 2, 2008

Updated: 04/18/2008 11:44 am

TAMPA - With the price of diesel fuel reaching record highs, about 50 independent truckers pulled up in protest at the Port of Tampa on Tuesday in an effort to wrest more money from the companies they haul for.

Freight rates have not risen in years, the truckers said, even though the price of fuel has quadrupled.

At least two of the port companies they targeted disagree with that contention, saying fuel surcharges they collect get passed along to drivers.

"We pay all the expenses, and they make all the profits," said David Santiago, 35, who has hauled everything from ice cream to scrap metal in 17 years as a driver.

The target of the local protest was a handful of brokers that ship containers out of the Port of Tampa and the nearby CSX freight yard.

The truckers rallied in the morning outside Coco's Latin Cafe, pledging to stand firm until these companies blinked.

Their effort was part of a loosely organized nationwide strike that came as the five biggest U.S. oil companies appeared before a congressional committee in Washington. The companies shook off blame for high gas prices and argued that their profits of $123 billion last year were in line with other large industries.

Santiago said he is on the verge of bankruptcy but doesn't necessarily blame the Port of Tampa broker he drives for, Comtrak Logistics.

"We know they don't control the fuel costs," he said. "They have to bring up the rates for us to survive or we will be the next animal on the extinction list."

He said brokers who ship goods impose a fuel surcharge on their customers but don't share that added revenue with truckers. Santiago said filling his truck can cost $1,200, adding, "I don't make that in a week."

Santiago pointed to other costs truckers have to pay, including more than $1,000 to register their rigs every year, identification cards to get into the port, and road usage fees.

Last week, the price of a gallon of diesel fuel averaged $4.02 a gallon nationwide, a record high. In the Tampa Bay area, diesel fuel hovered around $3.95 a gallon.

One trucker at the Tampa protest played a recording over his cell phone from his company's dispatcher, informing him that if he didn't show up for work he wouldn't get any jobs for the rest of the week.

"They're threatening us," said Julio Rodriguez, who showed a pay stub just under $300 for last week's work. "And I own my own truck."

Among companies targeted in the protest was J.T. Watson Trucking of Tampa, which stood by its 30 independent truckers by shutting down operations.

"But tomorrow, it's business as usual," Watson's general manager, Mary Lobdell, said.

Lobdell said that the company understands the plight of its truckers.

"The price of fuel is so high, something's got to be done to help them out," she said.

She said Watson pays the full amount of fuel surcharges to its drivers.

Tampa police watched the strikers Tuesday morning, asking them not to spill out onto Bermuda Boulevard, a short distance from the main entrance to the Port of Tampa off South 22nd Street.

"We are making sure they have a safe place and don't interfere with the normal flow of traffic," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The department wasn't aware of the rally until patrol officers noticed trucks pulling into small parking lots, she said.

Comtrak President Mike Bruns said from Memphis, Tenn., that the Tuesday strike in Tampa had little effect on his business.

He said his company sets its own fuel surcharge for payment to independent drivers, and, in some cases, gives the drivers more than it charges customers.

"I can't speak for the industry," Bruns said, "but here at Comtrak, we have a scale for our owner-operators.

"We do what's fair. We have some customers who are not paying us much of any fuel surcharge, and still, we pay the operators more than we are getting," Bruns said.

He said the price of diesel fuel has reached a crisis level.

"I think that if fuel prices continue at record levels, it's going to test the owner-operator business practices," Bruns said. "That's for sure."

Information from The Associated Press was used for this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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