Here's some info for ya.
Trucks are hauling most of our goods for the same price they were in the 80's, at 4$ a gal it costs .73cnts a mile in fuel to run a truck. Driver needs .41p/m to make a wage that can support a family and home 40-50k per year. Another .40 to cover the expenses of the truck ins, lic, paymnt, maint, etc. Now none of this includes saving any to replace the $200,000 truck and trlr when its worn out in ten yrs. As of right now the average rates I can find anywhere in this country is about a $1.30 per mile and most all are not willing to pay a fuel surcharge on top. So when they tell you that fuel is the reason, companies are actually using it as an excuse to line there pockets cause ther are alot middle men or women (not the bunnies) that are leaching into the rates and the trucks are not getting what they need or deserve. This is going to have to change soon or alot of good hard AMERICAN working men and women (for Bunnies) are going to fold.
I just sent a driver from Rapid City, SD to Bakersfield, CA with a load of lumber for $1.46 it took me two days to find it and had to negotiate to get it. There were 700+ loads posted in that area and the average was $1.10. This 27 yr old driver hasn't been home in 6 weeks to make ends meet.
Drivers are getting PO'd.

Maximum Overdrive comes to mind.

 

Only drivers I know making it right now are the Hot Shots but I also know that their insurance, fuel, and everything else is eating them alive. Wwe send a lot of things hot shot out of Houston and Odessa for Oil & Gas.

 

Um here in Seattle, It is pretty hard to find an American Driver. Have you been down by the shipping terminals lately?

 

Noticed I caps'd AMERICAN, and yes for almost 2 yrs until 6 months ago I was pulling heavy haul cans out of the port of Sea & Tac it was the most degrading drivers position I ever had along with the worse pay, the unamerican drivers have killed the rates all over this country some live in the truck affording them less living expenses to allow them to send ther money home as well as cut the rate in order to secure it I also no these guys spend more time trying to dodge the regs of trucking rather than abide them. DOT has had enough of the non speaking english driver problem that they are now fining drivers for non english speaking as it is the law to speak english to hold a CDL. I ran across a site that showed a driver was cited 6 times in three months and the fines and penalties are getting more severe.
There are still a number of AMERICAN born man & women driving today but uts getting harder.
I now drive a desk as it is no longer worth while to drive anymore my average income for the past four years was about 37,000 working 55-95 hours a week and many days without sleep.
Please do not take this as racist as I'am far from but there is a stereotype growing here.

 

Fester, I understand where your coming from, Marty and myself have to dodge most of those trucks trying to get around Seattle in the morning and afternoon.

 

i was surprised when i saw diesel pass regular up... for as long as i can remember, regular has ALWAYS costed more then diesel... then i was looking at gas prices not to long ago[try not to watch them go up... to sad to watch....] and noticed it was more.

 

Used to be that deisel and the solvents were the residuals from the refining process along with tar, now it's in such demand the actually try to make more of itso that was the reason the cost has gone up. Good old supply and demand, add to it all the sniviling simpletons that whine about the particulates and there are the higher fuel taxes on it also, so higher profits due to less costly to produce, followed by greedy government and last the simpletons that cry the loudest.

 

Kind of reminds me of chicken wings...Butchers used to give them away, now they cost about the same as boneless breast meat.

 

People got to have their hotwings. I do but then it does get ugly, as Charley Sheen said in Major League 2 "Odiferous Emenations".

 

The U.S. military, through its Defense Energy Support Center, buys fuel on the open market, paying from $1.99 a gallon to as much as $5.30 a gallon under contracts with private and government-owned oil companies. The center then sets a fixed rate for troops, currently $3.51 a gallon for diesel, $3.15 for gasoline, $3.04 for jet fuel and $13.61 for a high-octane fuel used mostly in unmanned aerial vehicles

 

Jet fuel it is!

 

I just noticed that #2 Diesel is now $4.509 @ the Chevron on Marine Dr. in Port Angeles. How long do you think it'll be before we see $5 fuel in the NW?

 

It was $4.21 at the Safeway in PA, but only $4.01 at the Safeway in Sequim.

 

Paid $4.11 in Bremerton for the diesel for my steam cleaner. Handy 10c Safeway discount-
Is it just me, or is this ultra low sulfur stuff thinner than traditional diesel? It sure does make that burner smoke-

 

What color smoke? If it's white smoke, you're either out of diesel in the tank, or it's flooded out. Black smoke sounds like dirty heater coils. Try cleaning your coils off w/ a wire brush - it should cut back on the smoke and help the water get warmer. We run offroad in the hot washer at work without any problems, however we do use a soot remover.... I think it's called "Red Devil Soot Remover," mix 1 oz. per 10 gallons fuel. Works great!