Independent truckers engage in creative protest over high fuel prices and affect UP intermodal business.
This illustrates the point made in several recent Labor Notes articles pointing out the existence of transportation "choke points" that are vulnerable to limited direct action. From Chris Kutalik's and Ron Hume's April article on the IBT/BLE merger and Hoffa's vision of a "seamless transportation union":
"Some industry experts agree that the merger could indeed potentially strengthen the power of North American transportation workers. 'There is power and leverage to be had in this sector,' states Edna Bonacich, a sociology professor at the University of California, Riverside who has compiled research on the growing integration of rail/trucking/longshore work.
'Logistics (transportation and warehousing) is the [employers'] Achilles' heel,' Bonacich observes. 'The corporations have created extended supply chains that depend on timely delivery. Inventory has been cut to the bone, so that any blockage in the system can cause them major problems. Having one big tranportation/warehousing union like the IBT means that it would be possible to disrupt the flow of cargo in a coordinated wy that could be very damaging.'"
Management as victim of its own success. Of course any serious working stiffs looking to pursue this vision of a "seamless transportation union" better get in touch with the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU).
Here are a few articles from the Omaha World-Herald on the independant trucker protest:
Trucker protest delays some U.P. shipments
Truckers expand fuel protests
Truckers Abandon Rigs in L.A. Protest
9:59:34 AM 
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