DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chances are, whatever you're wearing, eating, or driving, it was delivered by a truck. Now, the men and women behind the wheel say that high fuel costs are threatening to drive them out of business. Kathleen Koch was there when the rigs rolled into the nation's capital to protest high fuel prices.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was sound and fury. Just three weeks after their first convoy on the Capitol, angry truckers rolled their big rigs into town again. They're frustrated that the diesel fuel prices are still going up and are as high as $2 a gallon in some places.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't do something, the next time you see us, we will be in the welfare line, and it's sad.</s>JIM JOHNSTONE, OWNER, OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION: One truck dealer that we talked to is getting back in seven to eight trucks a week from guys that just can't make the payments.</s>KOCH: Truckers asked Congress to pass an emergency relief package to keep them on the road. They also want lawmakers to guarantee a minimum rate for hauling loads to cushion the impact of fuel price swings. Finally, drivers say it's time to open the spigot on the federal petroleum reserve.</s>LAURA WALKER, TRUCKER: President Clinton, we have a damn emergency on our hands. And it's a big one. And it's getting worse by the day.</s>KOCH: If prices don't drop, truckers insist, consumers will soon feel their pain when the cost of the goods they haul go up.</s>DOUG SORANTINO, TRUCKER: And the consumer can expect to see significant increases and, possibly, even shortages by the end of the summer.</s>KOCH: Despite their anger, just 169 truckers joined in the protest, even fewer than last time. Organizers say it's not that no one cared; they claimed drivers couldn't afford the fuel to make the trip. Kathleen Koch, for CNN, Washington.
Truckers Warn Consumers of Possible Price Increases