UPDATE: Some truckers don’t make fuel protest because they can’t afford diesel

Supporters give the thumbs up sign to a trucker at DC protest. (Associated Press)

The Associated Press

4/28/2008

WASHINGTON — Although the Washington fuel protest drew about 100 truckers, only about a dozen or so came to one in Pierre, S.D., because according to an organizer they couldn’t afford the diesel to get there.

Truck drivers are planning a fuel protest Thursday in New York City and another unspecified event May 5.  Organizers said Wall Street is responsible for driving up prices with no regulation from Congress.

"The high price for oil is hurting our economy," Mark Kirsch, organizer of the Washington D.C. protest, said. "It's hurting middle class people." Truck drivers there honked horns, waved placards and shouted through bullhorns pointed at the U.S. Capitol to make their complaints known.

The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is a record $3.51, according to a recent survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The price for diesel — used to transport most food, industrial and commercial goods — is $4.20 a gallon.

Dave Gares, an independent trucker from Lebanon, Pa., said the $1,400 it costs to fill up his tractor-trailer with 220 gallons of diesel fuel has been a drain on his income.

The truckers are urging Congress to stop subsidizing big oil companies, release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, and end exports of oil from Alaska, among other things.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who met with members of Truckers and Citizens United, said it's clear the truckers are suffering.

"It's particularly heartbreaking to hear their stories, because not only is there an economic slow down, which means they are hauling less," but a surge in diesel prices adds more burdens, he said.