Ontario Owner-Operators Threaten Fuel Blockade

The National Truckers Association, a group of 1,700 independent owner-operators in Ontario, said it would make good on its threats to blockade fuel depots starting Friday at 5 p.m. to protest high fuel prices, but a widespread rumor said it could begin at midnight.

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NTA, which draws most of its members from owner-operators hauling for major auto makers, has targeted the auto industry in particular for slowdowns in addition to the blockades that would affect everyone.

urrent diesel wholesale prices in Ontario average US$1.14 a gallon; retail prices average US$1.86 per gallon.

NTA has been negotiating, along with the Ontario Trucking Association that represents truck company owners, with the provincial and federal governments for reductions in fuel taxes. But both the Ontario and federal governments have indicated they are not willing to cut fuel taxes.

Government officials, in a counter proposal, indicated their willingness to impose fuel surcharges on shippers. However, on Friday morning NTA rejected that proposal.

According to OTA sources, Ontario Economic Development Minister Al Palladini met with OTA and NTA Friday and asked NTA not to strike while the talks continue. But he told the group that that for now he has done the best he can with the negotiations, the sources said.

OTA quoted Palladini in a press release yesterday, saying, “The government is prepared to regulate, if the industry won’t regulate themselves when it comes to fuel surcharges. This includes the fuel surcharges that shippers pay to carriers and carriers to owner-operators.”

The province has proposed a seven-point plan to improve the plight of its truckers. It includes: issuing guidelines for contracts between owner-operators and carriers, upgrading truckers licenses, phasing out retail sales tax on warranty repairs and insurance premiums, and establishing a “Trucking Industry Working Group” to ensure the provisions are carried out.

On Thursday, a group of about 100 truckers had staged a temporary shutdown of Highway 401, a major truck corridor that runs through Toronto, and another group of 200 truckers shut down a truck-weighing scale in Toronto.