Quote: I don't see any logic behind their protest or how these companies would go out of business. If everyone's cost of fuel rises than their prices would rise accordingly. It isn't like the increase of fuel costs is going to affect only certain trucking companies.
It does.
Large trucking firms hedge fuel costs and negotiate volume discounts leading to drastic reductions in fuel costs that owner-operators cannot meet. And the larger the firm, the bigger the discounts they can get. With fuel being, by far, the single biggest expense of trucking, a competitive advantage there is huge. And, unlike other industries, it's very difficult for smaller companies or individual owner-operators to offer any significant service differentiation to offset their added costs what with the government ruling over what can and cannot be done. So, what they're forced to do, is undercut their rates to match those of the larger firms. This forces pricing of a very supplier-diverse market into the hands of just a few companies that essentially dictate the pricing of everyone else.
Quote: I don't think it would be a terrible idea if the transportation industry shifted towards something that had a lower cost per mile for long hauls (ie rail).
It wouldn't be a bad idea if we weren't operating at or beyond capacity throughout much of the rail industry. Unlike trucks we can't just stick another train on the rails and expect the government to build some new infrastructure when what we have is backed-up.
