https://themilitant.com/2019/10/12/independent-truckers-protest-new-govt-regulations/
Independent truckers protest new gov???t regulations
??By Maggie Trowe
Vol. 83/No. 38
October 21, 2019
Independent truckers protest new gov???t regulations
Angry truckers staged a ???10-4??? protest on the Mall at the U.S. Capitol
in Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, above, to call attention to increasingly
onerous government regulations that threaten the livelihood of
independent owner-operators. When truckers use citizens band radio,
???10-4??? means, ???I get the message.??? Similar actions took place in South
Dakota, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana.
???Forty-four truckers gathered in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Oct. 3,
dropped our trailers, and drove up to the Mall in Washington, D.C., the
next day for the protest,??? Chelly Bartow Menkhoff,?? vice president of
United States Dedicated Drivers, told the Militant in a phone interview
Oct. 8. Her husband Harry Menkhoff, inset, is an independent operator.
???Everything we use or eat was brought in by a truck,??? Chelly Menkhoff
said. ???The truckers move the country, not the government. But the
government makes rules and regulations??? that undercut safety and
increase costs. Some states are proposing big increases in the minimum
required insurance for truckers. Others are pushing measures favoring
driverless trucks.
Two eastern Kentucky Blackjewel coal miners and their wives ??? Chris and
Stacy Rowe and David and Wanda Pratt ??? drove to Washington to join the
protest. The Menkhoffs met the miners when they visited Cumberland,
Kentucky, to back miners blockading the rail tracks of Blackjewel, a
bankrupted coal company. The coal bosses stole the miners??? final
paychecks and then tried to move coal out to sell.
???The miners won because we got our point across,??? Wanda Pratt told the
Militant.?? ???You can???t do to workers what Blackjewel tried to do to the
miners without getting a fight.???
South Dakota truckers organized by a group called ???The Disrespected
Trucker??? carried out a ???slow roll??? on interstate highways around Sioux
Falls, then continued to Pierre, the state capital, and some drove on to
the Mall.
???We???re planning a public protest meeting with an open mic Oct. 24 in
Pierre,??? Shawn McIntosh, 58, an owner-operator from South Dakota, told
the Militant.?? ???Trucks without drivers are going to kill a lot of
people. All this technology is so they can put us out of business. Is it
worth people getting killed????
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In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???UAW strike against GM is battle for all workers
???Halt Ankara???s assault against the Kurds in north Syria!
???Liberals push impeachment, target is the working class
???Join 9-week drive to win readers to ???Militant,??? revolutionary books
???Hong Kong ban on masks can???t stop struggle for political rights
???SWP: Working people can make gains ???when we stand and fight???
Feature Articles ???Youth throng Manila book fair for literature, culture,
politics
Also In This Issue ???Titles by SWP leaders attract interest at Paris Fete
???Contribute to SWP Party-Building Fund!
??????The stewardship of land and labor falls to the working class???
???Iraqi protests demand jobs, end to Tehran intervention
???African conference advances solidarity with Cuba
???Montreal rally: End ban on wearing religious symbols
???Independent truckers protest new gov???t regulations
On the Picket Line ???Idaho miners??? rally marks two-and-a-half-year walkout
???California sheet metal workers end strike, cite gains
???Albany nurses fight for union contract, against short staffing
Books of the Month ???In Teamster battles, ???Workers learned to fight as a
class???
25, 50 and 75 years ago
Letters
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxxx
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Albert Einstein
???Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.???
??? Albert Einstein
