LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB) — Independent truckers who are feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic held a rally Saturday afternoon on River Road to protest low shipping rates.
More than 50 semis lined the Louisville road as part of the #TruckerStrong protest. The drivers of the tractor-trailers, most based in Kentucky, said they're getting paid less during the pandemic, despite being members of an essential workforce.
Many truckers usually get between $2.50 and $3 per mile for a haul. When the pandemic hit, truckers said that rate dropped to anywhere between 50 cents and $1.
If freight is too cheap, truckers don't want it.
"It's bad. (I'm) behind on bills and things like that. We can't keep surviving like this," trucker Jeremiah Simmons said.
Independent truckers who are feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic held a rally Saturday afternoon on River Road to protest low shipping rates.
With the current rates, many truckers can lose money upon accepting a shipment. Some of the payments alone for their rigs can be as much as $3,500 a month, and that doesn't include insurance and permit costs. A tire blowout can cost $1,000 or more.
"If we even say, 'Hey, do you think we can get a little better than that?', it's already gone to another truck — usually a big carrier that can afford to take that bad freight. We can't," protest organizer Preston Bowers said. "Some of the owner/operators are having to choose between paying their rent and paying their truck payment.
"I worked the entire week last week and I might have enough to pay the bills in the truck," he added.
Independent truckers who are feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic held a rally Saturday afternoon on River Road to protest low shipping rates.
Knowing they could actual lose money if they take a job, some of the drivers involved in Saturday's protest said they have been parked for weeks. The truckers asked for transparency between brokers and what they believe they and their families are worth.
"We need to be looked at and treated fairly as well," Simmons said. "We are definitely essentials. Truckers keep the United States moving, and we do."
On Friday President Donald Trump said truckers are being "price gouged" and that they will be treated fairly and "taken care of."
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