Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference?

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deliveredarling -> Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 7:39:30 AM)
Anyone concerned? I wonder if it will make a difference. Our government can do something to ease the rising cost of the American people, yet it won't.... Will the truckers striking make a big enough impact or will it be dismissed just like the outcry from the people over the war? It never fails to amaze me, that greed overrides common sense. How do the expect the American population to thrive when the cost of goods and services continue to rise, yet the paychecks remain the same. They complain about overspending on the government aid, yet do nothing to ease the financial burden placed upon our people. Truly common sense is lacking.

stamper_ben -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 9:09:09 AM)
It may make it hard to get around with trucks blocking the highways and streets, but at the end of the day they will rev up their engines after venting their displeasure at over $4/gallon fuel because they have deliveries to make and an income to produce. Nothing will have changed but the prices that are paid for the goods they deliver.

blessedinnyc -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 9:46:02 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: deliveredarling Anyone concerned? I wonder if it will make a difference. Our government can do something to ease the rising cost of the American people, yet it won't.... Will the truckers striking make a big enough impact or will it be dismissed just like the outcry from the people over the war? It never fails to amaze me, that greed overrides common sense. How do the expect the American population to thrive when the cost of goods and services continue to rise, yet the paychecks remain the same. They complain about overspending on the government aid, yet do nothing to ease the financial burden placed upon our people. Truly common sense is lacking. It's very simple. Too much people + not enough resources=high prices.

WesP -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 10:19:39 AM)
quote: Nothing will have changed but the prices that are paid for the goods they deliver. Exactly! They are simply making it worse for the rest of us. They need to understand the basics of economics.

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 10:26:24 AM)
Truckers on Strike? And, how do they expect that to make a change in the world oil markets? Exxon Mobil's profit margins run somewhere around 9% (give or take)....so, let's REMOVE all profit from the product that they sell.... that $3.00/gal of gas is what? $2.70 now?....$4.00/gal diesel is now $3.60ish.... and, the 9% margin is an aggregate, company-wide figure......margins on gasoline, I believe run lower than that when oil prices are this high quote: ? It never fails to amaze me, that greed overrides common sense. How do the expect the American population to thrive when the cost of goods and services continue to rise, yet the paychecks remain the same. They complain about overspending on the government aid, yet do nothing to ease the financial burden placed upon our people. Truly common sense is lacking. So, what kind "easing" of financial burden are you suggesting??? You mention "greed"......who's greedy? you can start by pointing out that the government makes FAR MORE off that gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do....and the government doesn't do a THING to earn it!

Zhi -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 10:31:50 AM)
My husband and I had a conversation about this because we had to drive down to Denver yesterday and they were threatening to strike yesterday. It went something like this: Hubby: "We need to go a little early because the truckers might strike today." Me: "What are they going to do?" "Just stop where they are, apparently." "All of them?" "Nah, just the independent truckers." "At the same time?" "I don't think so." "They going to stop in the middle of the road?" "Doubt it, the state patrol wouldn't put up with that, they'd get arrested, especially after a trucker caused that 50 car pileup by Vail yesterday." "Then how do we tell whether they're pulled over in protest or just pulled over like they are every day?" "You know, I'm not sure..."

WesP -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 10:33:13 AM)
quote: "Then how do we tell whether they're pulled over in protest or just pulled over like they are every day?" "You know, I'm not sure..." LOL! I found this to be quite humorous. Thanks!

mapachito13 -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 10:38:34 AM)
[:@]What burns me more is that the oil executives after having posted record profits are asking the feds for more tax breaks! This is at a time when government is trying to find new ways to squeeze the rest of us for more revenue! Why do I have to pay to subsidize these companies that have never had a bad quarter in the past 30-40 years. I think that when their profits reach a certain level that they should be taxed at a higher level just like us regular folk.

WesP -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 11:00:16 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mapachito13 [:@]What burns me more is that the oil executives after having posted record profits are asking the feds for more tax breaks! This is at a time when government is trying to find new ways to squeeze the rest of us for more revenue! Why do I have to pay to subsidize these companies that have never had a bad quarter in the past 30-40 years. I think that when their profits reach a certain level that they should be taxed at a higher level just like us regular folk. [sm=thumbsup.gif]

earthless -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 11:00:38 AM)
Gasoline is still A LOT cheaper than water and milk. We should be allowed to drill on our domestic properties, but God forbid an owl may die. Instead we let Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, etc drill for all the oil they please.

upNORTder -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 11:09:22 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: kernsfamily Truckers on Strike? And, how do they expect that to make a change in the world oil markets? Exxon Mobil's profit margins run somewhere around 9% (give or take)....so, let's REMOVE all profit from the product that they sell.... that $3.00/gal of gas is what? $2.70 now?....$4.00/gal diesel is now $3.60ish.... and, the 9% margin is an aggregate, company-wide figure......margins on gasoline, I believe run lower than that when oil prices are this high quote: ? It never fails to amaze me, that greed overrides common sense. How do the expect the American population to thrive when the cost of goods and services continue to rise, yet the paychecks remain the same. They complain about overspending on the government aid, yet do nothing to ease the financial burden placed upon our people. Truly common sense is lacking. So, what kind "easing" of financial burden are you suggesting??? You mention "greed"......who's greedy? you can start by pointing out that the government makes FAR MORE off that gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do....and the government doesn't do a THING to earn it! Exxon's profits quote: Let's talk records. Exxon beat its own one-year-old record for the biggest corporate profits ever by 3 percent. Put together with the announcement by the No. 2 U.S. oil company, Chevron, of an $18.7 billion year, up 9 percent over 2006, plus the earlier results of Shell and ConocoPhillips, and that's more than $100 billion in profits from four companies. It's all thanks to the historic 35 percent climb in worldwide crude oil prices in the second half of 2007, ending the first week of this year when oil briefly touched $100 per barrel. Exxon nation. If Exxon Mobil were a country, its 2007 profit would exceed the gross domestic product of nearly two thirds of the 183 nations in the World Bank's economic rankings. It would be right in there behind the likes of Angola and Qatar—two oil-producing nations, incidentally, where Exxon has major operations. Ahead of the pack. Exxon Mobil's profits are 80 percent higher than those of General Electric, which used to be the largest U.S. company by market capitalization before Exxon left it in the dust in 2005. The new economy? Microsoft earns about a third as much money. And next to Exxon, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, looks like a quaint boutique, with annual profits of about $11 billion. On the margin. The oil industry urges people to look beyond its profits to its profit margin: about 7.6 percent of revenues late last year. That's not much higher than the 5.8 percent profit margin for all U.S. manufacturing, and if you exclude the financially troubled auto industry from that analysis, the oil industry actually appears less profitable than most manufacturers, which were earning 9.2 cents on every dollar of sales. But unrivaled returns on equity. However, profit margins across industries vary greatly based not on how well each business is doing but how capital- or labor-intensive it is. Oil is among the most capital-intensive. But look at the oil industry's profits compared with shareholder equity it has available for investment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's most recent analysis of the oil industry's performance, released just last month, showed oil industry return on equity of 27 percent—about 10 points higher than that of other manufacturers. And it has been higher throughout this recent era of high world oil prices, just as it was back during the oil shock that hit in 1980. Remember profit is figured AFTER the executives get their bonuses. edited to add- The profit is on WHOLESALE prices, not what you pay at the pump, the gas station owner makes a profit and the distributer makes a profit AFTER the oil companies have made their profit.

upNORTder -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 11:30:18 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: WesSavedByGrace quote: "Then how do we tell whether they're pulled over in protest or just pulled over like they are every day?" "You know, I'm not sure..." LOL! I found this to be quite humorous. Thanks! quote: "Then how do we tell whether they're pulled over in protest or just pulled over like they are every day?" "You know, I'm not sure..." Truckers are allowed to drive 11 hours after 10 hours off. If you see a truck parked, chances are they can't drive legally until they have rested. Try to live with a job that whenever fuel prices go up your wage goes down. Especially if your driving a vehicle that gets at best 6 miles per gallon and that gallon costs you over $4. Drive 11 hours at 65 miles per hour and you've used 120 gallons of fuel or about $480 FOR THAT DAYS DRIVING. Add insurance, truck payments etc. It's no wonder that they are upset. I pray that their strike is successful.

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 11:36:20 AM)
quote: Let's talk records. Exxon beat its own one-year-old record for the biggest corporate profits ever by 3 percent. Put together with the announcement by the No. 2 U.S. oil company, Chevron, of an $18.7 billion year, up 9 percent over 2006, plus the earlier results of Shell and ConocoPhillips, and that's more than $100 billion in profits from four companies. It's all thanks to the historic 35 percent climb in worldwide crude oil prices in the second half of 2007, ending the first week of this year when oil briefly touched $100 per barrel. You didn't mention the record breaking amount of corporate taxes that Exxon and the other companies have been paying to the federal government.....approximately $30 billion a year....($30 billion is the amount of state tax revenues collected (income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, licenses and fees, etc.) from these 12 states COMBINED: South Dakota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, Alaska, Rhode Island, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, and Nebraska. ALSO, $30 billion is enough to fund the COMBINED budgets of the Department of Agriculture ($19 billion), the FDA ($2 billion) and the EPA ($7.6 billion). and, again, nothing addresses the fact that the government makes much more money on the sale of oil and gasoline than the oil companies do. Exxon makes that much because of record REVENUE...more and more people around the world are now able to buy what they have to sell. Record revenues will result in "record profits"....it's not that they are selling it at a HIGH price, it's that they are selling record numbers of it! At those numbers....what do you want them to do? GIVE IT AWAY????? quote: Remember profit is figured AFTER the executives get their bonuses. And, after the millions of hard-working people that work for these companies get paid, as well. You never hear from those self-serving politicians talk about the great jobs that the oil companies support...those jobs that are ALWAYS far better than "average" for the "average worker".......my neighborhood is filled with exxonmobil employees, as their HQ is located a short distance away....they would all like to see the price of gasoline go down.....but, world markets determine the price of crude oil, NOT the oil companies. and 70% of the price of gasoline is in the crude... Want a return to 1998? Oil prices were $10 a barrel, gas was .89 at the pump, and oil services companies, as well as many others, were laying off people left and right.....(would YOU drill for oil that is "worth" $10 a barrel, if it costs you almost $40 to drill for it?) Other local companies, such as Texas Instruments is currently at 19% margins....when they get that high, then, perhaps, I can see your point.

WesP -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 12:03:36 PM)
quote: You didn't mention the record breaking amount of corporate taxes that Exxon and the other companies have been paying to the federal government.....approximately $30 billion a year....($30 billion is the amount of state tax revenues collected (income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, licenses and fees, etc.) from these 12 states COMBINED: South Dakota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, Alaska, Rhode Island, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, and Nebraska. ALSO, $30 billion is enough to fund the COMBINED budgets of the Department of Agriculture ($19 billion), the FDA ($2 billion) and the EPA ($7.6 billion). and, again, nothing addresses the fact that the government makes much more money on the sale of oil and gasoline than the oil companies do. Exxon makes that much because of record REVENUE...more and more people around the world are now able to buy what they have to sell. Record revenues will result in "record profits"....it's not that they are selling it at a HIGH price, it's that they are selling record numbers of it! At those numbers....what do you want them to do? GIVE IT AWAY????? This does not speak to the fact that their costs have not escalated at anything close to the same rate. How much they have paid in taxes is a specified percentage of profit. If they have paid $X in taxes, they made $X in profit. Just because the amount of taxes paid is high should not suggest that they deserve a reduction in taxes. After all, their tax percentages are no higher than other successful global companies in the same tax bracket. Regarding the government's take on gas and oil, those rates have remained relatively steady. They are not the culprits in the vast increase in cost. Furthermore, the prices from 1998 have absolutely no bearing on today's prices. That argument is moot.

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 12:14:24 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: WesSavedByGrace This does not speak to the fact that their costs have not escalated at anything close to the same rate. How much they have paid in taxes is a specified percentage of profit. If they have paid $X in taxes, they made $X in profit. Just because the amount of taxes paid is high should not suggest that they deserve a reduction in taxes. After all, their tax percentages are no higher than other successful global companies in the same tax bracket. Regarding the government's take on gas and oil, those rates have remained relatively steady. They are not the culprits in the vast increase in cost. Furthermore, the prices from 1998 have absolutely no bearing on today's prices. That argument is moot. The oil companies did not ask for ANY reduction in taxes....they were just asking that their taxes not be RAISED any higher than they already are. quote: If they have paid $X in taxes, they made $X in profit. Just because the amount of taxes paid is high should not suggest that they deserve a reduction in taxes. Same thing can be said about these so-called "record profits"....just because the amount of REVENUE paid is high, doesn't necessarily suggest that they are "greedy" and need to reduce their earnings. quote: This does not speak to the fact that their costs have not escalated at anything close to the same rate. Their costs for refining gasoline has gone through the roof...as the cost of crude oil has skyrocketed due to increased global demand....but, their REVENUES have, which in turn, means they earned more, as well. quote: Furthermore, the prices from 1998 have absolutely no bearing on today's prices. That argument is moot. no...but, it shows that once the price of crude falls, so does gasoline and everything else (those "greedy" oil companies were selling gas at .89 a gallon!)....and, what happens when it falls....

deliveredarling -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 1:31:46 PM)
Have you noticed the prices of goods and services falling when the price of gas falls? I sure haven't. This is called greed. If it were truly all about supply and demand- then why did they close all those refineries that were in operation? Why are we not dependent on foreign oil to an even greater extent? What happened to all those good paying jobs those oil companies supplied when they closed all those uneeded refineries? No, not about greed at all......

cog41 -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 2:00:00 PM)
To answer the question of the thread, NO.

rcjames -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 3:07:56 PM)
Change in the price of Gas; no. change in the cost of food, etc.; yes it will increase and if it is prolonged it will bring food shortages on the shelves of the local grocery. There was a trucker strilke back in the 70's and it was a mess. The best thing for our oil situation is for the libs and dems to stop their misled blockades of drilling and building of refineries in the us and its offshore reserves. We are sitting on more than enough oil to make us free of dependence on foriegn oil. Thanks RC

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 3:32:07 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: deliveredarling If it were truly all about supply and demand- then why did they close all those refineries that were in operation? Why are we not dependent on foreign oil to an even greater extent? What happened to all those good paying jobs those oil companies supplied when they closed all those uneeded refineries? No, not about greed at all...... Closing specifically which refineries? None that i know of (unless they were closed for some kind of environmental reason)..... ExxonMobil would LOVE to open new refineries.....but, you ever try opening one here in the states? almost IMPOSSIBLE... Unless you were referring to capping oil wells when the price drops and bottoms out. Would YOU run a company...and willingly drill for oil, at $10 a barrel, when it is COSTING you $35/barrel or so to pump it out the ground? that's not greed...that's stupidity. And, if it's NOT about greed, and about "profit", then how much of the oil company's 9% "profit" is "greed", and how much is "reasonable"?.... With record high taxes being paid by the oil companies....perhaps one could say that the government is greedy, as well....(the gov't profits FAR MORE from the sale of oil and gas than the oil companies do) take 9% profit (probably less than that on gasoline at retail)....3.00 a gallon gasoline retail at the pump....(for the retail price, 70% of that is the price for crude oil, 20% or so for taxes....and 10% or less for everything else).... even if you take ALL the profit out.....then what are you going to do?

mapachito13 -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:20:19 PM)
How does a oil company, gas refiner or gas station for that matter lose money when they change the price of the gas with their fluctuating cost. If you look at any industry chart showing the cost of crude to the cost of the product (gas, diesel, etc.) they rise and fall in tandem with the cost of a barrel of oil; meaning they make the same profit margin when the price is $110 a barrel or $10 a barrel. There is no maximum price for a gallon of gas in the US. They don't pay for exploration, drilling, taxes, etc. all their costs are covered by the end user of the product - anyone who drives. So don't give me that poor oil companies, refiners, etc.[:'(][:@] And on top of that Bush gives his oil buddies tax breaks![:@][:@][:@]

FurGodWurLivin -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:24:31 PM)
I don't think the strike is going to change the price of deisel that much. (A) because they only sidelined themselves for a couple hours and (B) a big part of the reason the price is so high is because of the taxes on gas. So if you want to get the price of gas down, elect more republicans.... $0.42 a gallon is too much for federal taxes on gasoline. People give the Oil industry guff for making money. However, the industry profit average is about 10%... which is not only normal, but an average amount for entire industries. So imagine, of the $3.00 a gallon, they only get about 30 cents. Adam

deliveredarling -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:28:21 PM)
Link on refinery shortage here: http://www.slate.com/id/2102031/ $120 billion dollars in profit, when so many here are suffering the economic effects is unacceptable. Our government is greedy as well as corrupt in this deal. I am not solely blaming the oil cos. I would hope that the American people would rally together to confront the unreasonable high cost of living. What are we supposed to do when the price of goods go up and stay up and our incomes remain the same???? How is that good for the people? Do you not see a problem with that strategy? Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer?

mapachito13 -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:29:26 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: FurGodWurLivin I don't think the strike is going to change the price of deisel that much. (A) because they only sidelined themselves for a couple hours and (B) a big part of the reason the price is so high is because of the taxes on gas. So if you want to get the price of gas down, elect more republicans.... $0.42 a gallon is too much for federal taxes on gasoline. People give the Oil industry guff for making money. However, the industry profit average is about 10%... which is not only normal, but an average amount for entire industries. So imagine, of the $3.00 a gallon, they only get about 30 cents. Adam Good technique use a small number to make it seem small and paltry. How about this number the oil companies are making $1300 per second PROFIT!!! Let's see there's 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. The number seems pretty big now!

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:31:27 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mapachito13 How does a oil company, gas refiner or gas station for that matter lose money when they change the price of the gas with their fluctuating cost. If you look at any industry chart showing the cost of crude to the cost of the product (gas, diesel, etc.) they rise and fall in tandem with the cost of a barrel of oil; meaning they make the same profit margin when the price is $110 a barrel or $10 a barrel. There is no maximum price for a gallon of gas in the US. They don't pay for exploration, drilling, taxes, etc. all their costs are covered by the end user of the product - anyone who drives. So don't give me that poor oil companies, refiners, etc.[:'(][:@] And on top of that Bush gives his oil buddies tax breaks![:@][:@][:@] So, then....there's your solution? Just wait it out until the socialists get elected this November....and, by next summer, since Bush won't be in office giving his "buddies" so-called "tax breaks" (totally ignoring the fact that the oil companies pay the highest tax bills in history...of anyone), the price of oil on the world market, and gas at the pump will be at a "reasonable" level? All because "the oil man" is out of office?....right now, the "sound bite" politicians, like at the "dog and pony" show yesterday were just saying what they thought Americans wanted to hear, as they know most Americans have no clue how the energy markets work...much less an oil company. Ask anyone who owns a gas station....when gasoline is this high, what little profit they were making is even slimmer...many go out of business....especially since most gas stations DEPEND on the sale of other goods (convenience store, car wash) for profits, as they make very little/no money on the actual sale of gasoline....

kernsfamily -> RE: Truckers Strike-Do you think it will make a difference? (4/2/2008 5:37:37 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mapachito13 quote: ORIGINAL: FurGodWurLivin I don't think the strike is going to change the price of deisel that much. (A) because they only sidelined themselves for a couple hours and (B) a big part of the reason the price is so high is because of the taxes on gas. So if you want to get the price of gas down, elect more republicans.... $0.42 a gallon is too much for federal taxes on gasoline. People give the Oil industry guff for making money. However, the industry profit average is about 10%... which is not only normal, but an average amount for entire industries. So imagine, of the $3.00 a gallon, they only get about 30 cents. Adam Good technique use a small number to make it seem small and paltry. How about this number the oil companies are making $1300 per second PROFIT!!! Let's see there's 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. The number seems pretty big now! well, on record sales/revenue....what do you expect? for them to LOSE money? Let's say they cut the price to NO PROFIT....what would gasoline cost then? OR, should the entire industry be taken over as a government entity, without regard to profit/losses? Work out your little technique and figure out $30 BILLION a year....the amount one oil company pays in total federal taxes in one year. How much per second/minute/hour is that?

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