[IanC]

Good for them!!! They need to declare their rights to consume vast amounts of precious, depleting fossil fuels up and down a tiny island already covered with railroad tracks, delivering loads and loads of cheap, foreign made products to any UK consumer willing to apply for a credit card!

Clearly, their industry is in NO WAY responsible for the utter reliance on said cheap fuel that lead to the high prices in the first place. Furthermore, they are right: the UK government can easily drop the price of fuel down to, say $25/barrel at any time! Up Truckers!!!

[Valdemar]

Source?

[VinceG]

Good for them!!! They need to declare their rights to consume vast amounts of precious, depleting fossil fuels up and down a tiny island already covered with railroad tracks, delivering loads and loads of cheap, foreign made products to any UK consumer willing to apply for a credit card!
Clearly, their industry is in NO WAY responsible for the utter reliance on said cheap fuel that lead to the high prices in the first place. Furthermore, they are right: the UK government can easily drop the price of fuel down to, say $25/barrel at any time! Up Truckers!!!

Does all this sarcasm ever get you anywhere?

[Twilight]

Blockading refineries and go-slows on motorways won't work this time.

In September 2000, the government got caught in a situation for which it had no plan, and no-one, all the way to the top, dared take the initiative. They were dealing with something they didn't understand, and the instinctive response was to let it play out and capitulate once face-saving terms were provisionally agreed. They said they would look at tax, and sure enough the fuel tax escalator was frozen for 7 years. It was only restarted last month. In the meantime, the real cost of motoring stayed flat and the middle class began to switch to SUVs on the back of cheap credit.

It won't work that way again. The authorities will impound vehicles and remove protesters as they arrive.

One strategy that would offer a balance of impact and legality is a coordinated road transport strike. Fuel would move, but goods would not. If it were to be effective, perishable goods would be gone from supermarket shelves within a week and everything else would follow a week later.

There is a hurdle to overcome: most haulage companies are tiny independents who cannot afford to lose the goodwill of their clients. It is likely to prove insurmountable. But if enough truckers can agree to a national strike, the impact of their misguided gesture would be severe.

[IanC]

VinceG,

Not really, but today, it gets me through a slow day at work. It's one of those, "better to laugh than to cry" sort of exercises.

Seriously, though, what is being missed here the the fundamentals about the fossil fuel economy which make the current transportation system untenable. What do English truckers or French fisherman hope to achieve by blockades to protest high fuel costs? Probably about as much as I achieve, raging impotently on a website. Geez, I should get back to work...

-Ian

[timbo]

They are rightfully angry. When they took on debts of $250k-$400k not a single politician told them we were facing PeakOil and that prices were only going to keep on rising. In fact that their way of life was no longer sustainable.

Its the failure of our so called leadership that most angers me. Let alone the insane obsession we have for running a "Growth" economy in a finite world.

I agree with IanC sometimes its better to laugh than cry.

On my blackest days I like to picture our current leadership dangling, rotting, from the useless bridges over the useless freeways we are still wasting our limited resources on. Or torn to pieces by the mob as the realisation of the enormity of the lie they have been living becomes apparent. And I won't even have to lift a finger or foment any trouble for it to happen.

[Starvid]

Good for them!!! --snip-- Furthermore, they are right: the UK government can easily drop the price of fuel down to, say $25/barrel at any time!Up Truckers!!!

Does all this sarcasm ever get you anywhere?

It sure is entertaining.

[Starvid]

It won't work that way again. The authorities will impound vehicles and remove protesters as they arrive.

Brown is a fan of the Iron Lady and is probably itching to prove his mettle by kicking some union Expletive deleted..

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

We won't see another '2000'. This type of action is now covered by 'terrorism' laws.

[whereagles]

It's easy to say trucking days are numbered and truckers should move into a new business. The problem is it ain't easy for people to find decent jobs these days. Especially with diving a truck is all they know how to do....

[timbo]

It's easy to say trucking days are numbered and truckers should move into a new business. The problem is it ain't easy for people to find decent jobs these days. Especially with diving a truck is all they know how to do....

There is nothing easy about this at all. They will however go out of business. Like air travel, long distance road haulage is extremely vulnerable to fuel costs

[Grifter]

It's easy to say trucking days are numbered and truckers should move into a new business. The problem is it ain't easy for people to find decent jobs these days. Especially with diving a truck is all they know how to do....

There is nothing easy about this at all. They will however go out of business. Like air travel, long distance road haulage is extremely vulnerable to fuel costs

I think road haulage will be heavily subsidised if/when needs be. Got to keep food on shelves.

[timbo]

...I think road haulage will be heavily subsidised if/when needs be. Got to keep food on shelves.

Initially yes but as someone else pointed out the UK does have a rail network even if its run down.

[AndyK]

The UK's rail network, whilst very extensive, is overloaded to breaking point as it is. The reason we don't have more goods hailed by rail is simply that it's pretty damn difficult to schedule in any more runs.

The trains are run down, and the tracks are run down (certainly compared to the rest of Europe). After the UK rail system was nationalised around 1950, freight steadily decreased and many of the old tracks were abandoned and torn up for housing and cycle paths. It will take a huge investment over many years to make the UK's rail system capable of taking a significant load off the trucking industry. That, or a massive decrease in the number of people commuting by train. Given rising petrol prices, that's not likely...

[Grifter]

A recession will reduce the number of people travelling by train or anything else. We also have a quite good canal network which would be good for transporting non perishable goods.

The problem I see is not so much the poor condition of the rail networks but in transporting goods from train station to supermarket. I can imagine horrendous congestion in village and town centres as they are not geared up for so much stuff being moved around in such close proximity.

Also there would be incresed need for road maintenance in these areas, causing yet more logistical problems.

People are just gonna have to put up with having less stuff, even if they could afford more. Simply getting the stuff to people will be very difficult.

[whereagles]

Well, I guess you can live ok with short-distance trucking, long-distance being covered by rail. It can be done in my country because most railroads are underused. Only the main north/south track is under stress.

[Twilight]

UK rail has good post-peak potential, but it depends what gets priority, moving goods or people. Unfortunately, the answer is certain to be people. Goods don't lobby to be moved.

I think long-distance freight deliveries will be among the first functions compromised by fuel shortages. There is no easy solution. You can't move goods the short distance from warehouse to supermarket if it never arrives at the warehouse. That part of the trip can be two hundred miles.

The first supply shocks will also expose the inefficiencies of the present centralised system. You may live near a port, but that probably doesn't affect your 'food miles'. In all likelihood it still gets hauled to a regional warehouse facility before it makes its way back to you. A supermarket chain will probably save more money running everything through a handful of giant facilities than it will saving a few coastal cities the journey. Bear in mind the decision will have been made with oil at 1/3 of the price today and diesel around 7/10. When supply fails to meet demand for a couple of weeks, they will see their distribution chain seize. The first few times, a lot of people are going to be caught in the right place, but with the system not making use of it.

[Andrew_S]

A recession will reduce the number of people travelling by train or anything else. We also have a quite good canal network which would be good for transporting non perishable goods.

A bit off topic lads but the mention of canals reminded me of a good old book by Jack London
The People of the Abyss

Yeah, no talk of canals in the book but your talk of canals took me back.

[timbo]

...I think long-distance freight deliveries will be among the first functions compromised by fuel shortages. There is no easy solution. You can't move goods the short distance from warehouse to supermarket if it never arrives at the warehouse. That part of the trip can be two hundred miles...

Agreed its going to be bad. And down here in Oz its likely to be even worse. Ignoring imported goods we have still have significant food miles for even basic produce and we've torn up a lot of our rail infrastructure

[Judgie]

...I think long-distance freight deliveries will be among the first functions compromised by fuel shortages. There is no easy solution. You can't move goods the short distance from warehouse to supermarket if it never arrives at the warehouse. That part of the trip can be two hundred miles...

Agreed its going to be bad. And down here in Oz its likely to be even worse. Ignoring imported goods we have still have significant food miles for even basic produce and we've torn up a lot of our rail infrastructure

Mmmmm, yes. These homo-sapiens are'nt particularly adept at forward-thinking, are they?