Vol. 72/No. 16      April 21, 2008

Thompson, 31, was one of more than 30 independent owner-operators who circled I-285 in Atlanta as part of a nationwide truckers’ strike. She invited me to ride along in the convoy.

Big wooden signs across the back of some of the logging trucks said “More pay for fuel increase.”

Drivers pulled onto the shoulder several times so truckers in the rear could catch up.

“What are all those loggers doing on the shoulder?” a passing truck driver yelled over his CB radio.

“Driver, join the convoy,” a member of the convoy responded back. “We’re protesting the high cost of diesel fuel.”

Another passing truck driver yelled, “Driver, you know this is not going to do any good. You can’t fight the big money in Washington. You can’t fight the lobbyists. Driver, this won’t do any good. We can’t change anything.”

Another passing trucker began yelling racist and sexist taunts to the convoy over his CB radio.

In response, convoy members patiently explained what the protest was all about. “We cannot feed our families any longer with these high prices. We need to take a stand. Ride with the convoy for awhile and join our protest.”

At one point the convoy was two to three lanes deep. It grew to more than three miles as more truckers joined.

“Convoy, pull on the shoulder,” a driver said over his CB. “We have been stopped by state troopers.” The troopers cited about a half dozen drivers for impeding traffic. State police hurriedly escorted the convoy to I-75 South.

“We asked for an escort but the state troopers never returned our phone calls,” said Thompson. “We tried to get a permit to drive to the state capitol building, but the troopers refused. So then we decided to circle I-285.”

Thompson started driving at age 19. “My grandfather drove a truck for 30 years and this is something I always wanted to do,” she said. She was one of three women truckers in the convoy.

In a phone interview following the protest, Thompson said there are drivers throughout Georgia who are continuing the strike. At the port in Savannah, Georgia, the truckers strike had slowed traffic by 50 percent.

Thompson passed the phone to her husband Grady, 42, who also drove in the convoy. “When I was younger I bought a truck because I wanted to have a good life,” he said. “Today I am in worse shape. I have had to get loans to pay for truck repairs. If I had a truck break down today, I couldn’t afford to fix it. I might as well go broke at home, instead of making Exxon or BP rich.”

Alyson Kennedy is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice president.  
 
 
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