Too many troopers, not enough truckers squash attempt at fuel price protest in NJ

Truckers’ apparent plans to block the New Jersey Turnpike in protest of high fuel prices on Friday morning were squashed by excessive police presence and too few participants News 12 reports. 

The drivers intended to leave the Vince Lombardi Rest Stop in Ridgefield and enter the New Jersey Turnpike all together, blocking traffic as a way to bring attention to their struggles with rising fuel prices, but participants say that there were too many troopers and too few truckers to make the rolling protest worth it. 

“We keep America running,” said trucker Yousuf Soufe. “We keep the economy running. We want the common public to know and support us.”

I’m just breaking even. The rates have really gone down and the fuel has gone up, you know, this is really going to affect the livelihood of the trucking industry.”

“I think that they’re not taking it seriously,” added trucker Jose Estevez. “They are not doing anything to help us.”

The driver who did show up said that this failed protest was a warning. They claim that if companies do not pay them more to compensate for high fuel prices, they’ll try to block the highways again.  

Check out the video interview here.