Truckers Strike This Spring to Break High Fuel Prices

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Hundreds of thousands of independent truck drivers silenced their rumbling diesel engines this week in protest of high fuel prices. Drivers from across the country descended on some of the most popular party destinations for a few days of fun in the sun, angry over the rising costs of delivering goods over the road.

Many drivers are stopping mid-shipment, risking their reputation and livelihood to make a unified statement to the fuel industry. Bob Harrigan, a driver 13 years from Missouri, parked his load of Budweiser beer near South Padre Island, Texas on Tuesday. He and others will spend the next 6 days lounging in protest in a picket line of beach chairs along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Spencer Edmunds, an Idaho native with 8 years experience, stopped with his load of products from Bacardi & Company in Henderson, Nevada. "It's not quite Vegas, but it's cheaper, and the girls are just as crazy as these high diesel prices," he said.

Down the blacktop in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, rookie driver Martin Bailey from Michigan parked his Peterbilt tractor without a load. He plans on meeting up with some colleagues bringing shipments of "vodka, inner tubes, and super-soakers" that they hope will help them reinforce their stance that fuel costs must go down, or compensation must go up.

Eddie Fuller, from San Diego, California has been hauling freight for over a decade. "It's a shame that the situation has forced us to do this, but a week in Glamis is gonna be killer. I'm stoked." When asked what his plans for the week would include, he replied, "We're only boycotting diesel so my truck is parked, but my sand rail runs on gasoline and attitude, bro."

The impact of the truckers strike will not be fully clear until well after it is over, but one thing is certain: it will be a week parts of which many of these drivers won't soon forget.