Highways of Violence

Shootings, beatings and other violence flared along major highways last week as independent truck owners sought to tie up the nation's road transport to protest the rising price and scarcity of diesel fuel. Rejecting an Administration offer aimed at satisfying their complaints, the loosely organized independents called a nationwide strike that has disrupted shipments of steel and other materials and threatens some cities with food shortages.

The 100,000 independents, who are self-employed and use their own rigs to haul goods for trucking companies on a contract basis, can average $20,000 a year in normal times. They argue that the shortage of fuel and the rise in prices from around 27-c- per galin September to 45-c- at present is paring their income by one-third or more. They complain that fuel-short stations often limit them to 25 or even ten gallons at a time. That has forced them to lose time and money chasing from truck stop to truck stop to keep their rigs running. About half of the nation's food is shipped in trucks, and the potential for disruption in a full-scale walkout is enormous.

To head off the strike, W.J. Usery Jr., director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, promised last week that the Interstate Commerce Commission would permit the independents to pass through to the trucking companies the cost of fuel-price increases in the form of higher freight rates. Usery also agreed to set up a special allocation plan for truck-fueling stations, ensuring that they will get 10% more than they sold in 1972. That was not good enough for leaders of such independent organizations as the Fraternal Association of Steel Haulers and the Council of Independent Truckers, who thumbed down the proposal. One sticking point: freight rates of about one-third of the striking independents--those who haul perishables like farm produce and cattle--are not regulated by the ice. Under the Government proposal, these drivers would have to rely on the good faith of the wholesalers they contract with to pay higher rates voluntarily.

The Teamsters Union, which represents about 450,000 long-haul drivers, including independents and those employed by trucking firms, has stood aloof from the strike, and President Frank Fitzsimmons has cautioned against "taking matters into your own hands." To impose their will, the more militant independents have been terrorizing drivers who continue to work and refuse to join in the strike.

One driver, Ronald Engst, 33, was killed when a rock was thrown through his windshield and his truck crashed outside Allentown, Pa. In Ohio, authorities reported water streaming from the radiators of at least ten rigs, which had been punctured by gunfire; one driver was shot in the shoulder and hospitalized. In New Jersey, independents picketed gasoline terminals owned by Hess, Amoco and Chevron, trying to prevent shipments to service stations. State police escorted trucks through strife-torn areas outside Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Warren, Ohio. At week's end Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Ernest P. Kline called out the National Guard to prevent further violence.

In addition to food, independents haul much of the nation's steel and other raw materials, and the impact of the strike is already being felt. Major citrus and produce growers are unable to ship their crops North. As a result, the price of oranges, strawberries and other perishables will rise. Because of material shortages, Armco Steel Corp. closed its Columbus plant indefinitely, throwing 565 people out of work. Republic Steel, Youngstown Sheet & Tube and U.S. Steel may close their plants in Youngstown. Strike leaders predict that unless the Government offers them a more satisfactory deal, food shortages will begin to crop up early this week in major cities in the East and Midwest.

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