Protest by Truckers May Hobble Beltway

Source: Washington Post

Tuesday, April 24, 2007; Page B03

Drivers on the Capital Beltway could find themselves in the middle of a protest by truckers today and tomorrow that might slow traffic.

Organizers of the event have called on truckers to take up all lanes of the Beltway and drive the speed limit. The protest was planned to last from early morning until 5 p.m. through tomorrow.

The action was organized to protest illegal immigration and the ability Mexican truckers will soon have to operate in the United States. It was timed to coincide with a four-day rally in Washington in favor of immigration restrictions.

There were no reports of organized protests yesterday, according to area transportation officials. One driver saw several trucks going slowly in a single lane on the outer loop near Springfield about 10:15 a.m., but it was unclear whether they were part of the demonstration.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301705.html

But the only people who will get hurt are the people who, more than likely, agree with them.

In America we don't obey the Laws. We are Bush* Amerika.......Off with their heads....

folks pull that moldy chestnut out. Frankly (and this is not directed to you personally), I am sick and tired of it. It shows a selfishness and self centeredness. They are protesting for ALL of us. Who wants to see horrible accidents involving family vehicles and potentially unsafe trucks. Who wants to see another high paying job be outsourced via NAFTA. Certainly not me. Use that time in traffic to call your rep. Show your support and pull off the road and have a leisurely cup of coffee. You have an excuse. Is your job so important that you can't see the bigger picture. It was labour actions of our father and grandfathers that gave us better working conditions. These are the laws that the folks are trying to strip away. Just suck it up and support your working brothers and sisters.

Because I do protest and will continue to protest, especially against this illegal, immoral war. However, I believe there are ways to get your point across without alienating the people who agree with you. That's my only point. If their purpose is to be heard then why not take a convoy to Congress, which I thought was the original idea.

but I for one think it needs to be retired.
These guys HAVE been trying to get the message across, but unless these folks inside the beltway experience some discomfort-they are totally disconnected. The only way to get to them is on their way to work.

Drive a convoy to Congress? Yeah I am sure that will fly with Homeland Security. This action is the next best thing they can do and folks need to understand that. I have lobbied Congress before. Believe me, they are insulated from far too much.

This is the least disruptive thing they can do. I don't know how many of you remember when they had a wildcat strike. I remember the store shelves getting pretty empty. Now THAT was disruptive.

A lot of people who've lost good factory jobs turn to trucking as an alternative. Going by the steady demand for new drivers, I'd hazard a guess that the pay isn't what it's claimed to be and the working conditions are just about intolerable.

My brother finally called it quits, parked his rig in the yard until he sold it. The stories he would tell. I don't begrudge any union member what ever action they take and I refuse to cross a line. Sometime you have to hit folks upside the head with a 2x4 to get their attention. These trucks will not and cannot be inspected as fully as they need to be. I can see accidents, major drug busts and some new biological pest introduced into the US. And I can see drivers waged being further eroded. Yes, NAFTA was a good deal.:sarcasm:

It seems nobody wants to be inconvenienced in any way. They squawk and complain but don't want to make any sacrifices. In this case being restricted to the speed limit is just too much to ask. Good grief, it's no wonder things are as bad as they are in this country.

The "organizers of the event" apparently consists of a website pushing Tom Tancredo for president.

Of course, whomever concocted this press-release non-event has utterly no familiarity with normal traffic on 495.



Yeah... it's not as if you wanted your ambulance to get you anywhere you needed to go. The emergency room can wait.

I have seen labour actions...even at hospitals, and these emergencies take precedence. I have know a Nurse on the picket line leave the line (with her colleagues blessing)when a patient whose care she managed came through.

Our ambulance have little problems getting to the hospital and I know Houston has a bit more traffic than DC as I have been in both. Your argument has no weight and is straight from the union busting playbook.

threatening to drive the speed limit on the Beltway at rushhour! good luck with that.

where they built their new Teamster Hall with Scab Lobor. They said Unionized Labor was too expensive. I will never support the Teamsters again for anything. They have decided to support the GOP and that tells us all we need to know..

It used to be horrible just on weekday rush hours. Then the rush hours expanded so that it's even damned slow all day, with the 5 mph creeping during prime rush hour. Even weekends were pretty awful - Sunday nights were as bad as weekday rush hours. So if the officials are saying that the protest "might slow traffic", implying slower than usual, we're looking at 5-10 mph.

From my understanding, the trucks coming from Mexico have NO E.P.A. standards to meet. There are no safety standards. The Mexican trucking companies are not required to pay their truckers even a minimum wage. Once again, American workers are being undermined.

Truckers, I support your action.

It gets attention, but it's the wrong attention from the wrong people. It's publicity from pissing people off. Why not a protest that more directly impacts those who can make a difference?

should speak up and support these folks. Do a slow down yourself in support. Don't gripe, applaud! Labour has been sticking their neck out for the working man for years. We wouldn't have the benefits we do today if they hadn't. Our fathers and grandfather's faced down armed company men that would kill you just as soon as look at you. So what if you get into work a bit late....Honk to support them-give them a thumbs up.

at least as far as the closest metro station, I doubt that anyone on the Beltway would be able to tell the difference in a traffic jam caused by these trucks and the usual, normal traffic jams.

and there are variations in speed that make a difference. A 40 mph drive is very different than a stop-and-go one, in the time it takes and the frustration of the drivers.

they would stop the aggressive lane dodgers who cause many of the accidents - which really tie up the beltway.

Hey, they may actually keep traffic MOVING for a change.

if the truckers convince the bushes not to allow Mexican truckers to haul freight in the US. You think a tie up on the DC beltway is bad? Wait until you see the tie ups from accidents caused by unsafe trucks and drivers. Wait until you see the pollution from trucks failing to pass minimal US pollution standards. Wait until you see millions of US truckers out of a job and on Welfare. Wait until you see the final throws of the American Unions. There is a lot worse in store for Americans when US truck drivers lose their jobs to Mexican drivers.

that Mexican trucks are actually subject to the same safety inspections and licensing requirements as US truks, right? Why is it, you think, that you suppose a Mexican driving the same truck as an American is more dangerous? and you know that the rule is that the trucks can haul freight from Mexico to the US, and not from US destination to US destination? and that it opens the Mexican roads to US trucks doing the same thing?

How sad, that is, that driving the legal maximum speed limit should be considered a protest that will "hobble" the freeway. Crimeny, that is why I gave up driving, the (long string of very bad words) drivers who feel that the speed limit is a mandatory minimum.

were going to surround the capital and park. :shrug:

I support their efforts whatever they do - wish I could show it in some way.

They're getting publicity. That's the point. You think the media is reporting about serious issues like this? yeah right.

:woohoo:

Oh, and a pox on the selfish, self-centered posters criticizing this protest.

This is well worth the couple of minutes it takes to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Xs8bposCc