‘If they choose to let industry die, it’s up to them’

“If the politicians in Washington don’t know about it by now, they must be blind or deaf,” said Dan Little, the trucker generally credited with organizing a nationwide shutdown by independent owner-operators and other professional truck drivers.  "Now, it's on their backs.  If they choose to let this industry die, it's up to them."

After watching news reports and hearing from truckers around the county, the owner of Little and Little Trucking, L.L.C., a cattle-hauling outfit based in Carrollton, Mo., seems genuinely pleased with the results of the April 1 effort.

“My goal was not to shut this country down. My goal was to get this out to the public and the mainstream media,” Little told listeners of XM Satellite Radio’s Land Line Now program during an interview yesterday. “In that sense, I think we were 100-percent successful.”

During a telephone interview this morning, I asked Little what he expects will happen next.

“We have guys that are still shut down, and I will remain shut down the rest of the week,” he explained. “We have guys that are still shutting down.”

As for his own immediate future, he will remain shutdown this week and be on the phone trying to get through to members of Congress and others with influence in Washington.

And what message does Little have for his fellow truckers?

“Hang tight. We’re gonna see where we go from here.”

-- Bob McCarty Writes