Industry Wants To Make Statement On Fuel Prices

Members of the Idaho potato and allied industry are urging a "no buy" day Wednesday, May 19, on the purchase of fuel.

Frustrated over the increases in fuel prices in the last few weeks, truckers are on the edge of having to park their rigs.The railroads, although they have stockpiles, burn huge amounts of diesel.

Although growers get a farm price on diesel, they are also seeing increased prices. Shippers are being hit in the pocketbook over the increased costs of getting potatoes to market.

An e-mail campaign is under way to in an attempt to send a message to the oil industry. Originators of the effort point out that even President Bush, who said he would intervene two weeks ago, did nothing to stop the increases in the price per barrel of oil.

However, news reports state that the cost of a barrel of oil fell below $40 last week. Getting the price difference through the system will presumably take a while.