This page will have the older news from past months

For past stories so far go here...

Archives page

August 14, 2005

Diesel Fuel hits record high

 Fuel just went through the roof and there's no stopping in sight. Fuel is now at $2.72 but I haven't checked it this morning so this may be wrong, seems it's going up every couple of days now. It has now risen .57 cents since the shut down in June. 

 If you use 60 gallons of fuel a day your increase in cost is now $34.20 a day and for 20 hauling days it is $684.00 a month. 60 Gallons of fuel is now $163.20 so your fuel bill is now $3264.00 a month.

 How long are we going to let this go on before we say enough is enough and demand a fuel surcharge to off set this insanity.

First two weeks of July Fuel Rises .11cents

Fuel went from $2.33 to $2.44, it has risen .29cents since June 1st.

If you use 60 gallons of fuel a day your increase in cost is now $17.40 a day and for 20 hauling days it is $348.00 a month.

75 gallons of fuel is $21.75 a day and for 20 hauling days it is $435.00.

With out a fuel surcharge you are hauling at least 1 1/2 loads of logs a month  just to pay for the fuel increase. That's 15 loads a year your working for free. 15 loads that you are giving to the mills for free because we have no fuel surcharge and we are not compensated for our hard work. At 3 loads a day you just donated 1 week of hauling to the mills for free. 

July 2,2005

Fuel for the Month of June increases .18cents. 

At the start of June fuel was $2.15 a gallon at the end of June it was $2.33 a gallon. If you used 60 gallons of fuel a day your increase in cost to you was $10.80 a day, and for 20 hauling days in July it will be $216.00. But we all know fuel will go up some more in July. The cost to you will increase some more. What Fuel price was your Haul Rate figured at? With out a fuel surcharge how can we even figure what our costs will be. In 2000 we had a fuel surcharge based on $1.40 per gallon but a year later (2001) it was taken away and incorporated in to the haul rate. In 2002 we were given a 4% increase, lets say we got a 4% increase in 2003 and 2004 also that's 12% not to bad, but wait fuel has gone up 39.9%  ($1.40 - $2.33=.93cents  .93/2.33=39.9% ) it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out were slowly going broke.

Do you know what it costs per day to operate your truck as an Owner Operator

Lets see,

 60 gallons of fuel a day is $140.04

Truck payment of $1500.00 a month is $75.00 a day

Insurance is $500.00 a month $25.00 a day

Work comp. $300.00 a month $15.00 a day

License, GVW, Hwy use Tax  $5.00 a day

Tires 2 steering 8 drivers 8 trailer $40.00 a day

Wages 30% what the truck makes per day

Were over $500.00 per day to operate and we haven't even calculated Maintenance costs ( Brakes, Oil Changes, Grease, Wheel Seals, Broken Rims, Broken Wheel Studs, Cracks in Log Trailers and Bunks, Scale Repair, Lights, Air Leaks, Suspension Repairs, Washing the truck, Electricity in the winter, I could go on and on )

We haven't even calculated a major break down Either (Engine, Transmission, Rear Ends)

This is why a Fuel Surcharge is so important if we can get a handle on our fuel costs we can budget our other costs. We are an independent group of individuals, but there comes a time when we must band together for the greater good of our Log Trucking Industry. As a single Log Trucker we have little say in our future, no voice loud enough to be heard, no one will stand up for us and take our problems to the powers that be other than us as a group. So when you see another Log Trucker out there give him a knowing wave and extend out your hand and ask him to join us, because he is going through the same things we are and one more voice makes our cry for a fuel surcharge just a little more louder.    

Montana Log Truckers need a fuel surcharge

  The main reason the Log Truckers parked their trucks, in protest, is not having a fuel surcharge to offset the high cost of diesel fuel. With the way the fuel is going up almost daily we need a way to stay on top of this. All other forms of transportation has a fuel surcharge in place. Railroads, Airlines, highway truckers, chip trucks, taxis, busses, you see it all around. When you fly your ticket has a fuel surcharge added on to it, when you have something delivered to you there's a fuel surcharge added separately to the bill to offset the rising cost of fuel. This is only common sense as fuel goes up we need to be able to pass this cost of doing business along just like any other business in the transportation industry. Plum Creek Timber say it's incorporated in the Haul rate that we get paid. But the haul rate is static once we agree to the haul rate for a job were locked in to it for the duration of the job. If fuel rises during that job we have to take money that was slated for maintenance, tires, Family and put in to the fuel tank to keep hauling Logs. We have no way of offsetting the increased cost of doing business. We are worried that some people will sacrifice safety to stay running, this is a concern that we  all must address.   

Log Truck Shut Down Deemed a Success

Everyone involved in the shut down should feel good, as a number of things were accomplished.

#1. It showed the Logging Community, there is a problem if over 40 Log Truckers were willing to shutdown in protest.

#2. That the number one problem is no fuel surcharge, we have no way to address the rising cost of diesel fuel.

#3. It brought us together as a group, to discuss the problems at hand.

#4. It showed us that we have a very large community support base out there, we are the most visual aspect of the Timber Industry, and the Log Truckers are very popular with the public, we need to use that to our advantage.

#5. Any thing we do as a group will bring the news media running with reporters and cameras. Educating the public will have far reaching results.

#6. It showed other Log Truckers that didn't join the shut down,  they need to take a look at there business a little more closely.

#7. We now know we have more options available to us and as a group we have the power to implement them. 

#8. We need to be more organized and bring more Log Truckers on board with us.

#9. We fired a shot across the bow of the timber industry, we are a sleeping giant that is awaking to address the problems facing the Log Trucking community.

#10. We formed the Montana Chapter of the Northwest Log Truckers Cooperative, and become a member of the fastest growing group of Log Truckers in the country. We now have input from Log Truckers from all over the northwest that have faced the same problems that we are facing. 

As a whole we should be proud of what we have done. We stood up and said we are mad as hell and we aren't going to take it any more. Now it's time to go back to work hauling logs and to get the message out to all Log Truckers. 

Our #1 goal is a Fuel Surcharge   

#2 is to educate the Log Trucking community 

#3 Is to bring on board all the Log Truckers out there, to stand with us and bring a better quality of life to the families of all Log Truckers.   

June 5, 2005

Log Truck Shutdown

November 22,2004

Log truckers voice concerns about traffic safety

Log truckers have growing concerns about traffic and hazardous driving in the Flathead Valley, especially as winter approaches.

In fact, some truckers and the Montana Logging Association are pursuing a campaign urging local drivers to pay more attention when there are log trucks in their vicinity.

For more of this story, click here

___________________________________________________

October 29, 2004

Why we need a Log Truckers Association

Trucking associations can be valuable sources of support and information for owner-operators who want to be more politically involved or who need help with specific problems.

Click here for the article

January 29, 2005

ACTION ALERT

New Log Yard Safety Rules Going into effect at all Plum Creek Mills.

We have received the Second draft of the new rules and have posted them for everyone's comment. We know we need a uniform set of Safety rules to go by and we need your input to make them as user friendly as can be. We all have a routine we have used for many years and it has served us well. But since we have been hauling short logs things have changed. As you all know we had a Log Trucker injured when a short log fell off a load in the mill yard while he was pulling his wrappers. When you haul short logs, to get your weight you have to stack them right up to the limit. (14.6) So there is a greater chance of them falling off.

  The simplest solution would be to have a wrapper puller stanchion that you could drive up to and pull your wrappers then if a log fell off it would land on the arms of the wrapper puller. Then when you pulled up to get unloaded you would be out of the way of all the yard equipment which is the safest place in a busy mill yard. After getting unloaded you just drive off and proceed to the trailer loader.  

 We have many types of Log Trucks unloading now and each one has there own special way of unloading. So I'm not sure one set of safety Rules will fit all types of Log Trucks, we may have to have  several sets of rules.

New Rules Click Here

Remember Safety doesn't cost it pays

Click here to update your information

 _____________________________________________

Back to Page 1