Disturbing News From A Small Oil Distributor This Morning

[ThomWV]

I buy my vehicle fuel (diesel) and home heating oil from a small local oil supplier. My bill comes monthly and this month there was a notice in the bill that told us customers that if the monthly balance was not paid in full their accounts would be suspended the following month. Everybody got one.

When I stopped by this morning and paid up my bill plus some I mentioned in passing that I had seen the notice and wasn't surprised considering the recent increase in fuel cost. As it turns out all the local suppliers are doing the same thing. The lady (wife of the company owner) told me that the problem was the truck drivers. Many of their customers are truck drivers who move crushed limestone products from a local mining operation. The mining operation takes orders for stone and then dispatches privately owned trucks for delivery. Truckers are paid for tons moved plus a mileage adjustment for fuel cost. The company (owned by one of the states highest placed Republicans) hasn't made any change in the fuel cost adjustment since prices began to rise and the truckers are stuck in the middle. Two weeks from now the next bills come out and if last month's bills have not been paid in full there won't be any more fuel for those trucks. For most of these fellows last months bill has not been paid, and in fact they were delinquent on the month before that. A whole lot of industry is going to come to a screeching halt around here in just about 15 days.

[crikkett]

1. Yikes. Where's "there", WV?

[ThomWV]

3. The supplier is outside of Morgantown,WV

[Warpy]

4. Right, and the cheapskate mine owners will either have to find

a new batch of suckers with gravel trucks or they'll finally have to give fuel cost allowances to the ones they have, a month late. My advice to the truckers is to get together and try to get that allowance made retroactive for at least a couple of months. They're not running a charity for rich mine owners.

Don't agonize, organize!

[flashl]

2. The economy has been harsh to truckers, I feel for them and their families.

[rucky]

5. I would not want to be an independent trucker right now. n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

6. This is why we have unions and why we need more

The 'right to work' states are where all the factories not moved to China have gone. Anyone wonder why?