Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Protesting truckers bring chaos to New Zealand city streets
Agence France Presse
Protesting truck drivers converged on New Zealand’s main cities Friday, slowing traffic to a near standstill as they protested higher road taxes.
The protests were held in 13 cities and major towns to coincide with the morning rush hour.
Police said an estimated 2,000 trucks clogged the streets and motorways of the biggest city Auckland, though total gridlock was avoided as many commuters travelled early to avoid the traffic jams.
(4 July 2008)
German truckers plan to join world fuel-price protests
Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Monstors and Critics
Truck operators in Germany are planning to follow the transport industry in other countries, demonstrating for government relief from soaring fuel prices, an industry leader said Saturday.
Separately, a market-research company said 51,000 medium-sized German companies were close to failure because of rising costs. The companies say they mostly have fixed-price agreements with their customers and cannot pass on their cost increases.
Bernward Franzky, chief of transport industry federation in Lower Saxony state, said his industry would demand that Berlin cancel its plans to increase road tolls.
‘The burden of the diesel-fuel price for the transport industry is disastrous,’ he said in an interview. ‘In the space of one year, it has risen by 12,000 euros (19,000 dollars) per truck. Most companies are in the red.’
(5 July 2008)
Truckies threaten two-week strike
Kim MacDonald, The West Australian
Truck drivers are threatening to bring the country to its knees with a two-week strike this month, partly over rising fuel prices, in a move that would stop the transport of food, petrol and consumer goods.
The Australian Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association predicted 80 per cent of drivers around the country would participate in the strike it had organised from July 28, including many fleet workers.
But the potential impact of the stoppage is in dispute, with the Transport Forum, an industry body representing both drivers and transport companies, claiming it was unlikely to be widespread.
Chief executive Ian King said local truck drivers had mostly been able to pass on the fuel cost increases to transport companies and other customers, and were enjoying a booming industry.
(5 July 2008)
