KSWO, Lawton, OK- Wichita Falls, TX: News, Weather, Sports. ABC, 24/7, Telemundo - Truckers sound off, threaten strike
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Lawton_Truckers are threatening to go on strike April 1 to protest rising gas prices. What began as a small, online grassroots movement is now spreading across the country.
With fuel prices hitting record highs, and diesel costs rising above regular gasoline, some truckers say a strike may be the only way to initiate change. Although truckers have threatened to strike many times before, this time they say they mean business. "The unions, you know, they've struck before and they've got things accomplished," says Mike Edgar from Memphis. "Without the trucks on the road, everything else is going to go sky high, so it'll affect everybody," says trucker Bryce Wallace of Muskogee.
Prices for food we put on the table could skyrocket. At some gas stations, truckers pay $3.84 per gallon for diesel, and for Wallace it means he's paying $850 to fill up his tank. "I mean, our bonuses have actually been cut down, and the company's having to cut down on the speed of the trucks, and a lot of stuff to try and compensate for the differences," he says.
By striking on April 1, they plan to put a stop to the rising cost of diesel once, and for all - and, news is spreading fast - first online, and now by CB radio. While there are many truckers still currently hitting the road, others are out of business, and some are headed toward unemployment. "I've talked to some people that are parking their trucks because they just can't afford fuel," says Aaron Seyfert of Ardmore. "Not just the fuel, the maintenance on them, tires and regular routine maintenance they need to do, they just can't afford to do it"
If the strike does start April 1, it will affect all of us. Everything trucked in will have to be shipped another way, which means that everything - from food to power tools and building supplies - could cost us more.
