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Trucker strike talk dismissed in fuel frenzy

Staff, wire reports

Lassater has some counsel for drivers following a rumor-fueled run on

gas in Alabama.

The 31-year veteran of driving gasoline tanker trucks said he and his

fellow drivers aren't going on strike and that reacting to rumors that they

might only further boosts fuel prices.

The rumors sent many north Alabama residents racing to the pumps

Wednesday fearing a gas shortage loomed, creating long lines and even causing

some

stations to temporarily run out.

" The only way gas wagons would go on strike is if somebody started

shooting at all of us, and I guess then some of us would park our trucks, " said

, who drives 450 miles a day filling tanks across north Alabama.

" People are panicking for no reason, just like they did at Y2K, and we

made it through that just fine, " he said.

Some trucking industry experts contend that drivers won't be able to

afford to park their rigs in a strike.

" They don't have any option to quit because they have everything

mortgaged to the gills. If they slow down any, they are going to lose everything

they

have, " said Jimmy Kugler, owner of Reliable Transportation in Cullman. " So I

guess we are going to go out fighting. "

Don Holmes, owner of Holmes Transport Inc. in Sheffield, said he

believes the talk of a strike is only a rumor.

Holmes Transport has about 12 company drivers and 18 owner-operators.

" I don't put much credence in it, " Holmes said. " Most of the talk I hear

is hearsay between smaller owner-operators who don't have the ability to get

extra pay from fuel surcharges. "

Tony , co-owner of & Sons Oil Co. in Huntsville, said

his phone started " ringing off the hook " Wednesday with people asking about the

rumor.

If the truckers all went on strike, he said, " We'd definitely be out of

product rapidly, but I don't see that happening. "

The Teamsters union helped drivers organize a protest in south Florida

last week seeking mandatory fuel surcharges, with hundreds of truck cabs

streaming down the freeways.

Even when shippers pay a fuel surcharge, the money often is not passed

along to the drivers. Fuel surcharges can be as high as 28 percent.

" Gasoline is our country's blood, " said. " Everything would shut

down if our trucks stopped running, even for a day or two. You'd never catch

back up. "

He drives to Birmingham twice a day to fill his tanker and then delivers

that fuel north for Kenan Transport, spending $500 a day in diesel fuel.

An empty tank, not strike rumors, sent Melody Malone to the gas station

Wednesday.

" I didn't believe there was a strike, but you've got to get some gas

when you're on empty, " she said. " People overreact. It's just like when the

weatherman says it might snow and they rush out to buy bread, milk and toilet

paper. "