Today may be April Fools' Day, but independent truck drivers across the nation are not in a joking mood.

Diesel prices are at an all-time high, shipping rates are being slashed and small owner-operator trucking businesses are disappearing.

The situation has become so dire that truckers locally and across the country have called for a shutdown of all shipping of goods by tractor-trailer for at least 24 hours starting this morning, sending a message to the nation that the economy cannot survive without trucks and truckers cannot survive without the government making changes.

"All we're asking for is for Washington to look at this (problem) with a realistic view," said Dan Little, the owner of a cattle-hauling business in Missouri and the de facto leader of the shutdown. "Don't pat us on the back, stick us out the door and say, 'OK, it's all said and done,' because that ain't going to fly."

The nationwide shutdown has already been felt in different parts of the United States, including numerous truckers striking in Georgia and South Carolina.

Hundreds of truckers circled the Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday afternoon, blaring their horns in protest and calling on Gov. Ed Rendell to eliminate Pennsylvania's diesel-fuel tax of 38.1 cents per gallon — the highest in the nation.

Talk also has been swirling about a possible convoy to Washington, D.C., from Carlisle on Saturday.

Little said he has been calling congressman and senators for several months to try to get anyone to listen to him about the problems independent truckers are facing, but he said he could not get past the receptionists in the offices.

"When your top two men in political offices (in Washington) are oil-related, you're going to dance with the one that brought you, aren't you," Little said. "It's a damn shame when you have to pay a politician to listen to you."

Little said the people in trouble are businessmen, who are being put out of business with costs of equipment and insurance and too many regulations.

An average trucker has between $100,000 to $200,000 invested in trucks and equipment, Little said, and he or she pays between $600 and $800 a month in insurance.

Little said the average truck driver has more regulations put on them than an airline pilot.

And right now, the average price of diesel in Pennsylvania is running $4.33 a gallon, compared to $2.84 a gallon a year ago.

Little said the trucking industry is one of the few in the country that could cripple the economy if the operators decided to shut down completely.

"We're not talking about a bunch of guys that are just standing around looking for a handout," Little said. "These are professionals. These are guys that have never wanted anybody standing over their shoulder, looking down their back.

"These are guys that simply want a fair and level playing field for all."

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Not only are truckers on a national level feeling the pinch, but local independent truck drivers also have been struck by economic factors.

David Wise of Denver has been in the trucking industry for more than 30 years — independent for the last six years — and he said he has never seen the problems he is facing today.

Wise said he is getting killed by not fully receiving the mandated fuel surcharge, which stipulates that the company whose goods are being trucked must reimburse the driver for a portion of fuel charges. He said freight brokers are not passing the money on to the truckers who are entitled to it.

In October, Wise was paying an average of $3.07 a gallon for diesel, but after he received the fuel surcharge, the average price was brought down to $1.88 a gallon.

However, in January, Wise paid $3.10 a gallon, but the surcharge only brought the price to $2.47 a gallon.

Wise said he has been hearing a lot of chatter on the CB radio and the Internet about the shutdown, but he wants to see if it has an effect on the general population before he participates.

"I'm just one little backwoods truck driver with one truck, and I'm not sure that I have a whole lot of influence," Wise said. "I'm kind of taking a wait-and-see approach, myself."

Howard Rhinier, principal officer of the Teamsters Local Union No. 771 in Lancaster, said the local union is not directly involved in the shutdown because most of its members work for large companies and are not independent.

Rhinier said he understands the plight of the owner-operator because of the high diesel prices and rates.

He also said consolidation of trucking companies has hurt the industry. Rhinier said in the early 1980s there were as many as 400,000 trucking companies under the National Master Freight Agreement. Now there are about 65,000, and the industry is getting even smaller.

"In the near future, (trucking) doesn't look good," Rhinier said. "But you're always going to need trucks and truck drivers. There's no doubt about that."

On Wednesday night, Charles Greene of Huntingdon sat at the 222 Travel Plaza in Ephrata after hauling a piece of concrete that weighed 62,000 pounds.

Greene said it's trucks, and especially independent truckers, that help to keep the economy moving. As an example, he said a Wal-Mart near his home has 10 trucks per night delivering groceries and 12 trucks full of merchandise each day.

"People don't realize how much trucks do in this country," Greene said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com