OTTAWA, (May 3, 2005) — The executive director of the Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada says that truckers’ blockades in protest over high fuel prices can only lead to negative reaction from the public and continue to alienate independent truckers.

OBAC chief Joanne Ritchie made the comments in response to roadblocks staged by truckers in Vancouver this past weekend. About 250 truckers — led by the B.C. Teamsters Union — brought city traffic to a standstill while protesting high diesel fuel prices. The price of diesel has increased by more than 50 percent to around 95 cents a litre in the Vancouver area. It has jumped 20 cents in just the past four months.

The truckers also demanded the federal government and provincial governments cut their fuel taxes on diesel to provide relief — starting with the federal GST.

Ritchie says that such action has little, if any, impact on fuel pricing. “Rather than clambering after governments to cut fuel prices, owner-ops should be focusing their attention on the real problem — inadequate haulage rates — and going after their customers to start paying what it costs to have their freight moved,” she says. “Tax exemptions and rebates are band-aid solutions when what’s needed is open-heart surgery.”

In this respect, Ritchie agrees with the message being hammered home by carrier associations like the Canadian Trucking alliance, which has stressed to both carriers and shippers that rates must be hiked, and much of the money should be used to attract and retain drivers in the industry.

In fact, market conditions show that there’s never been a better time for owner-ops to demand pay increases and accessorial compensation. “These are watershed times,” Ritchie says. “There’s plenty of evidence that customers are willing to pay more to have their freight moved, and the vast majority of shippers are paying surcharges to offset skyrocketing fuel prices … If owner-ops aren’t seeing the benefits, their carriers are either not collecting appropriate surcharges or are not passing them through to the contractors.”

OBAC suggests all owner-operators begin conducting a critical cost analysis of their operations to determine the scope of the shortfall in rates. For example, at 80 cents per litre, an owner-operator achieving a reasonable fuel mileage of six miles per gallon is paying 60.6 cents per mile to run the truck, the group explains in a press release. When fuel was at 50 cents per litre, it cost only 37.8 cents per mile to operate — a difference of nearly 23 cents per mile. At current haulage rates, fuel eats up the lion’s share of revenue, leaving little for payments, maintenance, wages, or profit. This is the kind of rationale owner-ops need to bring forward when approaching their customers for rate increases.

“Owner-operators have a huge amount of clout in this market, and many of them just aren’t taking advantage of it,” Ritchie says. “They’ve got to get over the idea they have to settle for less because there are a dozen drivers lined up to take the job. Buying into the myth and continuing to work for less than it costs to run the truck allows carriers to get away with charging substandard rates.”

She continues: “When David Bradley (CEO of the CTA) says ‘sometimes you’ve got to say “no” to your customers,’ I say ‘yeah, Buddy!’

“Our customers are the carriers; let’s give them a resounding ‘no,’ showing that we mean it by withdrawing service from carriers who aren’t compensating their contractors appropriately by paying reasonable rates, offering a full pass-through of a realistic surcharge, or capping fuel prices on yard fuel.”