Dear Editor,

As I watch the fuel prices escalate and the freight rates slump, I realize no one is fighting for the survival of the carriers.

How long can we be expected to continue to operate with expenses rising and rates either falling or staying the same? We all know freight rates were higher 10 years ago than they are now. The price of equipment has certainly not gone down, neither have shop rates. The government is quick to fine the truckers for any miniscule infraction they can find. The expenses that truckers incur just continue to rise while their revenue decreases.

The carriers are finally implementing fuel surcharges, only to be told by some shippers that they refuse to pay them. At this point, I wonder if there is any justice in the world. Apparently there is none in a trucker’s world.

I do not see that farmers’ problems are that much different from those of truckers. We are both faced with high equipment prices, expenses we cannot control, and rates we cannot control. The big difference is that the government is willing to help the farmers. No one has offered to help the trucking industry.

Do people not realize that the country not only revolves around farmers but it also revolves around the trucking industry?

It seems that something drastic must be done.

I can certainly see why there is a shortage of drivers.

Lori Durand

Treherne, Man. n