LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The owner of an Arkansas truckstop has stopped pumping diesel and gasoline, saying he is protesting prices along with truckers, reported Land Line, the magazine of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). Don Shamsie's Blackwell Truck Stop is on Interstate 40 about 30 miles north of Little Rock.
"We felt we needed to take a stand," Shamsie told Land Line Now. "We know that the independent truckers out there are barely making it; they're struggling to survive. A lot of them cannot park their trucks because they've got to get their revenue going. We've [image-nocss] taken a stand to stop selling fuel to see if we can get the attention of the politicians who we felt have sold Americans out."
He added that at the price he has been paying for fuel and for credit card transactions, he was not making money anyway. Shamsie also said he thinks most politicians are in the pocket of the oil companies that contribute to their campaigns.
"I feel I'm doing an injustice to myself and my customers if I don't stand up for what I believe in," Shamsie told FOX16-TV in a separate report. He said he is not helping truckers if he buys expensive fuel and passes it down.
"We have not heard from [supplier] Valero as of yet," he told the new outlet.
Meanwhile, two less-traditional gasoline-price protests cropped up in Massachusetts. In Palmer, a local farm owner turned to old-fashioned wheels, reported WSHM-TV. Ron Weston and a half-dozen other people are riding on a horse drawn trolley, six miles from Brimfield to Palmer.
"There is no comparison. Horses you give a little bit of grain and some water and go, we just went five miles," Weston, owner of Hollowbrook Farms in Brimfield, told the news outlet.
Weston is protesting against the soaring cost of fuel and its impact on the average person. They stopped at gas stations, supermarkets and McDonald drive-thrus.
Weston got this idea about two weeks ago. He said he doesn't expect people to ride around in horse drawn carriages, but he wants people to start thinking of alternatives. "I don't imagine everybody should ride their own horse, but it shows you there are other options we can turn to in this world. We could have electric cars, hydrogen cars, and other modes of transportation," he told the TV station.
And approximately 100 Methuen High School students ditched the bus and left their cars in their driveways and walked to class for a one-day protest against high fuel prices, said The Eagle-Tribune.
History teacher David Fabrizio came up with the idea for the protest and he gave students extra credit for walking. He even joined them. Fabrizio teaches students about the counterculture and protests of the 1960s. He challenged students to protest gasoline prices for the first time last year and one class walked to school. He issued the challenge to all of his classes this year, and two other history teachers, Jon Becker and Jim Peirce, had their students join in.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.