I was wondering your opinions on whether there will eventually be a strike and why?
I’ve never done a poll before, this may go a bit wrong! 
Im an employed driver and never fill up in the UK but it still concerns me and I even try to find the cheapest diesel in Europe.
Fuel protests and strike will only alienate us further against the public so that isnt the answer. I cant even blame the government for the latest hikes in price,
What I do wonder though is that the worlds oil is purchased in barrels for dollars.
A barrel is 40gallons and always has been. A pound is now worth $2.05 so we should be getting twice the amount of oil for our money 
I would very much doubt if we will ever see any fuel blockades ever again. The main people organising the last ones where farmers and small hauliers. Do we actually have many small hauliers/farmers left now to protest? I thought most produce came from large scale (factory) farms run by large conglomerates and most distribution is done by large multinational companies. Can’t see then doing it.
No one protested much about working class people having to pay a congestion charge to go into London? It 'll be a case of you can either afford fuel or you can’t.
Wheel Nut:
Im an employed driver and never fill up in the UK but it still concerns me and I even try to find the cheapest diesel in Europe.Fuel protests and strike will only alienate us further against the public so that isnt the answer. I cant even blame the government for the latest hikes in price,
What I do wonder though is that the worlds oil is purchased in barrels for dollars.
A barrel is 40gallons and always has been. A pound is now worth $2.05 so we should be getting twice the amount of oil for our money
A barrel in oil terms is 42 US gallons (34.972 Imperial gallons or 158.987 L)
Still ****** expensive though!
TC
Youl never get another fuel strike,employers will just use the wealth of cheap labour coming into the country to cover the extra costs.
The only way we would get support is to have the police backing us, and the chance of that is a BIG ZERO 
In France, Police and Truck drivers used to stick together as they were in affiliated unions, though not sure about that now?
Our biggest problems are;
- we dont stick together 2) we have no public support 3) we would be replaced by cheap labour.
- Fuel blockades are illegal and can be removed by force .
- Farmers would lose subsidys
- Hauliers would have the operators licence revoked .
It’s upto the general public to do something about it .
sorry , but the only thing that is gonna stop fuel price increases is haulage companies passing on cost to customer , and from there to the consumer. then the loss of sales/profits might concentrate matters.
but most companies run on such tight margins , but thyre to scared to pass on extra costs
for fear of losing contracts.
strikes just annoy the public, and get the industry more greif…
I think something should be done…but same old thing, people just wont stick together
Shame the industry wont all get together, what would happen if ALL the haulage firms went on strike? i cant see the goverment revoking opertators licence’s then as their would be no firms left to deliver goods.
Prices will just keep going up untill small hauliers can’t manage.
Because most haulage firms are or are working for the big logistics companies that can easily pay the fuel bill and have more interest in keeping a buisness going and swelling the pockets of sharesholders than worry about some fuel protest .
Don’t ever think you can grab this government by the balls .
You could all strike and all they would do is in bring in the Army and police and any other government associated workers that can drive vehicles to move essential items , food would be rationed , fuel would be rationed and the public would suffer , in the meantime the spin will be putting the blame on the nasty truckers and any kind of support would soon be gone .
Im sure they would find it easier to lower the prices than bring in the army and police? 
Do remember that high prices are popular with certain folk in Downing Street. They get a tax windfall (oil company profits and increased VAT) plus there is the perceived “green tinge” to higher prices. Our environmental friends believe that this will herald a mass movement of people to buses and freight to trains, of course they both require diesel too but we can subsidise that can’t we ?
Protests won’t happen. too many people with too much to lose. The only answer is to keep increasing the rates. If you concentrate on service you’re less likely to lose work. Try to compete on price and you’re onto a loser.
The reason I asked the question is that I just can’t see how the numbers add up for the majority of UK haulage firms, even the larger ones.
Diesel has gone up by roughly 10% in the last 5/6 months. It is widely known that fuel usually makes up about a third of a haulage companies costs (33%). If that cost rises by 10% then that equates to roughly a 3% increase in total costs. (I think thats right)
If you read Commerical Motor regularly then the news pages are always stuffed with stories about firms making tiny profit margins of 2% or less.
So, if these firms are experiencing a 3% interest in costs, then surely a large number of businesses will go bankrupt?
If you go into a Stobarts traffic office (well the one at Appleton anyway), they have a big screen up and its shows things like the running costs for the last few weeks based on ppm. Obviously it fluctuates, when i was last in there it was varying something like £1.15 to £1.35 , so yeah even a small increase has a big effect even for the larger players.
If you had put,“Up to the bosses to stop us working in protest” I would have ticked that box, but what has it to do with us as drivers, the boss should pass on all costs + what he needs to make onto his customers (and if he can’t he is in the wrong business) then they will put up their costs onto their customers etc etc bringing on inflation which results in higher pay rises for workers and the government being forced into changing it’s polocies on fuel tax, then we are all happy.
ran all the time through the last protest had a good fuel supply unlike other drivers .who had to abandon there trailers on the wednesday and head for home bobtail .the roads were very quite that day 
but it was farmers and lorry owners that were on the refinery gates not drivers WHY was/ did our lot improve NO did any driver about at the time think if duty went down to 1p a litre on derv our life would get better NO it was a protest for the people that make the money not for PAYE drivers
scania245:
ran all the time through the last protest had a good fuel supply unlike other drivers .who had to abandon there trailers on the wednesday and head for home bobtail .the roads were very quite that day
sorry to disappoint you mate but you could not be further from the truth. I took part in the first ‘big one’, and i was an employed driver, albeit working in the office at the time, no one else from our company took part. The other people that were there were drivers and small hauliers, and agency drivers, plus a couple of owner drivers, no bosses of companies. The people who were there were all united in their passion for the UK haulage industry, and some who were there lost money by doing so. I did know people who were drivers at the time who were forbidden to take part, but managed to do so by taking part in the go slow convoys. We were small in number, but not as small as the ONE person who protested at another nearby refinery. We did not blockade as is so widely believed and published, simply stopped every truck exiting the refinery (police were there to manage the situation) and asked if they would mind going back, and EVERY truck did. We would not have resorted to any other action had the driver wanted to carry on. Essential supplies did leave, for hospitals etc, the drivers showing us their delivery notes and asking if we minded if they left. We believed we were taking part for the good of everyone, and i mean everyone, the public included. We actually did have about 6 cars from the public turn up and support us. At the end the hauliers who organised the protests turned up and told us it was over, then it was handshakes all round including from the police who thanked us for being so restrained and polite and home, and yes i did feel proud i took part. A year or so later i spoke the one of the organisers who was at another one, he was so dispondant that no one turned out to support, he said he would never take part in one again, and i felt so embarrased i hadn’t taken part, i honestly thought i wouldn’t be needed as others would be there. So no, there will not be any more protests i believe, hauliers and farmers have lost heart, and like someone said, there are so many east european hauliers and drivers here now, it wouldn’t have any impact. I am attemting not to buy petrol from the big players at the mo, its an alternative to the not buying petrol on a certain day scheme that was tried a while ago, but i doubt it will have any effect, as people do not stick together in UK. I dislike alot about the French but they do stick together for what they believe in. For me it’s time to get out of the country, and i am trying hard on that plan but it will take some time.
jimti:
but what has it to do with us as drivers, the boss should pass on all costs + what he needs to make onto his customers (and if he can’t he is in the wrong business) then they will put up their costs onto their customers etc etc bringing on inflation which results in higher pay rises for workers and the government being forced into changing it’s polocies on fuel tax, then we are all happy.
If only life was as simple as merely ‘passing the cost on’. I subbie to one of the major aggregate firms. THEY say when the rates go up and the only time I can pass on anything to my customers is when I purchase materials, on account, to sell on . The actual bread-and-butter haulage rates are the same now as they were in August 2006 and won’t be changing until the new year at least.
You might say “get out of the game then”. Fair comment but it would be throwing away my work of 2.5years and I don’t want to do that because it is a job I enjoy. It can be tough but I accept that. However, I would just like a tiny recognition from the government for the efforts of myself and thousands of other drivers, small-operators and plc’s all over the country who seem to be fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Large increases in rates are frequently just not feasible unfortunately. I just get the impression that if we don’t do something now it will be too late. 
Also, don’t be fooled that it is just the small companies that are affected. Far larger firms than me are in the same boat. There are a couple of large-ish local companies (20-30 trucks) that won’t be seeing a rise either. What “it has to do with drivers” is that between them they employ 60-odd drivers. If the company goes bust, the driver has no job. 
I just feel that the playing field is not level and that we are constantly penalised by the level of fuel duty we pay. Whatever happens, if the price rises continue (my fuel card has gone up 8p/litre in 4 weeks! ) I think we as an industry are in for a nasty fall and that affects all of us, like it or not.
I am just a driver and could not care less how much it costs for my boss to fill up idont pay for it
Dafman.
Are you for real.Judging by the no.of posts you have made you are a driver of some experience.How can you say you dont care,if your boss goes to your customers and says he has to put up his rates because of the added fuel costs,the customer will doubtless find somebody to do it cheaper.If its one of your big customers ,your boss goes bust and you are out of a job.It is to be hoped for all concerned that you put more thought into your driving.