No he isn't.

The corporate drivers have their fuel paid for by the corporation.

The owner/operator puts it into his cost of business and charges those he hauls for.

The only thing to be cranky about for the owner/operator is the loss of business to corporate drivers due to rising fuel costs, but it will be made up with miles logged.

Now, what really pisses them off, is you damned four wheelers cutting them off short on the freeway....

/son of a trucker

Unless they're idiots they're passing the cost on down the line. The real reason you don't want to drive too close to a truck is you might get one of these (Not Safe if you're eating lunch) lobbed at you.

They're cranky from the trucker jokes and meth abuse.

I'll tell you is really pissed, it's the independent farmers. The increased fuel prices effects them a hell of a lot more than the truckers.

But the cool thing is that both the trucking companies and the small farms pass the cost onto us, the consumer.

Mission Accomplished!!!!!!11111one11!!!

They're a little cranky cause freight trains are going to eat their lunch

perdu: They're a little cranky cause freight trains are going to eat their lunch

Hah. Our rail infrastructure is piss poor at best. We're gonna need a lot of money to fix the existing lines, and add more if we ever seriously wanted to move a lot of our freight by train.

Now if only some hadn't been torn up by GM...

queezyweezel: perdu: They're a little cranky cause freight trains are going to eat their lunch

Hah. Our rail infrastructure is piss poor at best. We're gonna need a lot of money to fix the existing lines, and add more if we ever seriously wanted to move a lot of our freight by train.

Just get me some Reardon metal rails and Dagny and I can get a new transcontinental line done inside of a year.

LaRouche has been vindicated again.
When will you people learn to open your minds?

Cranky and cranked-out, to boot.

When I first bought fuel, [1970] diesel was $0.229/gallon and the Dollar was $58/Oz. of gold in real/actual/absolute money.

Nobody thought it was expensive at the time.

Gold closed at $1002 yesterday, so that translates to $3.956/Gallon in modern money.

The diesel fuel is the same price, it is just the Dollar which is smaller.

yeah, you can say they just pass it on down the line... too bad that doesn't happen easily or often. Most clients kick and scream and fight about fuel surcharges, and will seek other shippers before paying any extra money. And sadly, there are owner-operators desperate enough for any type of work that they will screw themselves, and other drivers, over just to move a load, regardless of how little it pays.

And yes, large shipping companies pay for the fuel for their drivers, but that still gets taken out of the pay for the load/run, so it still affects the driver/teams pay for that load.

/Owner-operator expediter.

perdu: They're a little cranky cause freight trains are going to eat their lunch

Just as long as they don't drink their milkshakes.

Saw my uncle - an independent driver - today for Easter. He said he paid $39,000 last year in diesel costs. He wasn't happy.

Weaver95: Just get me some Reardon metal rails and Dagny and I can get a new transcontinental line done inside of a year.

Clever post[rant], but it's made with complete drek. Even William F Buckley thought the Objectivists were nutty fingers[/rant].

/still chuckled at the post

Can anyone explain WHY these drivers never cut their engines off?
Is there a reasonable explanation for this. I mean is there something in the owners manual that says "leave running at all times because it may not crank next time"?
I'm not talking about the Big Rigs. I mean the smaller diesels like these Ford, Chevy, and Dodges etc.
Looks to me like it's just an attention getter.
"Hey look at me! I've got a really loud vehicle"
Could take the muffler off my car and get the same effect.

$4.26 CT

ckevinc: I'm not talking about the Big Rigs. I mean the smaller diesels like these Ford, Chevy, and Dodges etc.

If it's during an extreme cold snap, it's because the vehicle doesn't have a block heater or anything else that will keep the diesel "warm." Diesel rocks as a fuel in many ways, but it has a tendency to gel at temperatures much higher than gasoline.

Car drivers can cut back on their usage. However, truck drivers are stuck. Doesn't take a market genius to know who to stick it to.

staplermofo: LaRouche has been vindicated again.
When will you people learn to open your minds?

A broken clock. Wake me up when LaRouche stops setting up weird stands in Montreal and selling his "tunnels under the oceans" crap...

But....I thought high food prices were the fault of evil corn and teh bio fuels

shoot, middle grade gasoline was $4.02 at my corner stations this morning. Diesel has been over $4 for about a month now.

Truckers are cranky cause cars continue (to be) peopled by everyday chow hounds.

Wow, we'd be just thrilled to see the price of diesel and gas so low.

/upper MI

Okay folks. I am a 16 year veteran long haul trucker. Wisely, I've never been an owner operator, so I get good pay and am able to enjoy the job and take off all the time I desire, wherever I want to do it.

Anyone who thinks the owner operators can just pass along the cost is living in a dream world. They are losing their butts for the most part. The micro-recession is causing available freight to fall off, and everybody is scrambling to make a reasonaoble living this year. Fuel costs are not so easily handled as the motoring public might think.

Well, I gotta go now. In a bottle of course.

/tosses it in a trash can.

Approves

$4/gal? Is that all? Ive just been reading about how diesel prices in Australia passed $1.60/litre (which is closer to $6/gal).

spidermann: Now, what really pisses them off, is you damned four wheelers cutting them off short on the freeway....

fezziwig: ...they're passing the cost on down the line

These. I paid $4.18 a gallon in Cameo, CO yesterday, about 30 miles east of Grand Junction.

And fezziwig is correct, we're not paying it, you are.

//truck driver

I paid $85 today to fill up the tank of my VW Golf Diesel, though I'm in Europe so price are higher anyway.. but this was the highest I've ever paid (1.16 EUR/liter).

perdu: They're a little cranky cause freight trains are going to eat their lunch

If trains could handle the freight, they would...but they can't.

olddinosaur: When I first bought fuel, [1970] diesel was $0.229/gallon and the Dollar was $58/Oz. of gold in real/actual/absolute money.

Nobody thought it was expensive at the time.

Gold closed at $1002 yesterday, so that translates to $3.956/Gallon in modern money.

The diesel fuel is the same price, it is just the Dollar which is smaller.

If you go by inflation alone what cost $0.23 in 1970 would cost $1.30 now.

I don't know about you but I don't own any gold.

Diesel gets much better mileage though. In fact, based on the average cost of diesel compared to the average cost of gasoline across the nation, diesel cars would only need 2mpg more (roughly) to be economical. And they're way more than that :)

I blame Bush
Mission Accomplished
FARKING IRAQ GRR


....uh..Goram Ethanol!

queezyweezel no. perdu's right, rail has made the 1st gains on trucking in generations lately-it freaks everybody out because it's been the other way around for so long. The little guys are dyin' out there-diesel has normally been the cheapest gas going. If you don't think it's hurting you just look @ your grocery bill, eggs, milk, canned stuff...it's gettin' nuts out there you think the campaigns would reference it more but nobody seems to give a crap

Which means that everything at the stores will be more expensive due to the trucking companies increasing the prices to cover the costs of the fuel.

So really, what's farked up is that not only are we, the consumer, paying for higher fuel prices at the pumps, but we're paying for it again at the stores.

And yes, some of those truckers are paying for the cost of fuel. Some companies pay the truckers back on their fuel based on the national average of gas, which means that shipping to Texas is great, but New York and California suck because the truckers are losing money. Other companies just re-emburse the truckers when they hand in their receipts for their expenses.

I remember back when diesel was way cheaper than gas. I now work for a charter bus company and one of the drivers told me that another reason for the higher prices was because people went out and bought diesel automobiles because of the cheaper price, thus increasing the demand for it. And from what he told me, he is the driver after all, not me, diesel is the crap left over after gasoline is made, so basically a by product.

Can anyone explain WHY these drivers never cut their engines off?
Is there a reasonable explanation for this. I mean is there something in the owners manual that says "leave running at all times because it may not crank next time"?
I'm not talking about the Big Rigs. I mean the smaller diesels like these Ford, Chevy, and Dodges etc.
Looks to me like it's just an attention getter.
"Hey look at me! I've got a really loud vehicle"
Could take the muffler off my car and get the same effect.

I think air pressure and cooling have a lot to do with that.

Any truckers or diesel mechanics want to educate?

Anybody got an actual reason as to why diesel is now more expensive? And why the news isn't talking about diesel costing more?

spidermann: The owner/operator puts it into his cost of business and charges those he hauls for.

You don't know many owner/operators do you? I know many and they are getting killed by the rising diesel costs.

jimmyjackfunk: I remember back when diesel was way cheaper than gas. I now work for a charter bus company and one of the drivers told me that another reason for the higher prices was because people went out and bought diesel automobiles because of the cheaper price, thus increasing the demand for it. And from what he told me, he is the driver after all, not me, diesel is the crap left over after gasoline is made, so basically a by product.

The biggest reason that diesel became more expensive than gasoline is that the oil companies tinkered with the refining process so they could produce more gasoline, which decreased the amount of diesel being produced.

/Also, the new ultra low sulfur diesel caused a price increase.

Last year we paid out over $62,000, yes $62,000 for fuel. As an Owner Operator leased on to a company, we have no one to pass the cost on too. It's getting so bad that we are about to "close up shop". While it will be great to have my husband home more, hopefully every night, it's a shame that after 15 years on one job, he's going to have to start over in another one.

At least they are driving slower now. Or something.

It's still only about half as much as us people pay in the UK

jimmyjackfunk: I remember back when diesel was way cheaper than gas. I now work for a charter bus company and one of the drivers told me that another reason for the higher prices was because people went out and bought diesel automobiles because of the cheaper price, thus increasing the demand for it. And from what he told me, he is the driver after all, not me, diesel is the crap left over after gasoline is made, so basically a by product.

Oil is refined by fractional distillation. That means heat the oil and the different parts of oil rise to different heights. Diesel is a heavier fuel, so it will have more emissions per unit in most cases (heavier fuel -> longer carbon chain -> more pollution)

The fractions of oil, gas, bunker oil, kerosene, and etc. you get are constant (or close to it?)

So yes, if the demand for diesel went up then so will the price.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS???
IS THIS "TRASH A TRUCKER" DAY???
THIS IS THE SECOND TIME TODAY YOU PEOPLE HAVE GONE OFF ON TRUCKERS.
IF IT WASN'T SUNDAY, I'D BE DRIVING AND WOULDN'T HAVE SEEN THIS.
Have a nice day.

ckevinc: Can anyone explain WHY these drivers never cut their engines off?
Is there a reasonable explanation for this. I mean is there something in the owners manual that says "leave running at all times because it may not crank next time"?
I'm not talking about the Big Rigs. I mean the smaller diesels like these Ford, Chevy, and Dodges etc.
Looks to me like it's just an attention getter.
"Hey look at me! I've got a really loud vehicle"
Could take the muffler off my car and get the same effect.

Heres the issue :

Diesel engines work on engine compression by igniting the fuel in the chamber for the piston to get max force at the crankshaft.

The fuel is typically ignited by "Glow Plugs" -- Diesel fuel has a more difficult time combusting and because the fuel and air are not mixed like in a conventional engine, the fuel combusts at a high temp, on its own by these glow plugs. This is why diesel engines have problems starting up in the winter.

It takes a MASSIVE amount of fuel just to get the engine started, this is the reason truckers leave the engine running simply because of the amount of gas it takes to start it. Same goes for any diesel really.

/if I was wrong about anything please correct me
//my dream is to become a diesel mechanic
///this thread truly is relevant to my interests.