Several truck drivers plan to stage a “parked protest” in Jefferson City next week to draw attention to issues within the trucking industry.
Truck drivers plan to park 12 trucks along the north side of West Capitol Avenue and 12 trucks along Washington Street — between West Miller and West McCarty streets — before holding an event at the state Capitol, protest coordinator Billy Bogar said.
The protest will run 7-9 a.m. Tuesday.
The organization Black Smoke Matters has done several slow-roll protests around the country, including in Missouri. During these slow-roll protests, truck drivers typically drive the minimum highway speed.
As of Wednesday, Bogar said, the Missouri Chapter of Black Smoke Matters does not plan to have a slow-roll protest. However, he added, if enough drivers participate in the Jefferson City protest, there may be a slow-roll protest.
“It’s mainly a call to Washington for governmental overreach in our industry,” Bogar said. “There’s a lot of issues in our industry right now, and Washington is just not doing anything about it. They’re not listening to veteran drivers when they need to.”
Truck drivers plan to meet with state legislators and encourage them to “stand up to Washington.”
This protest is directly tied to a nationwide shutdown planned for the trucking industry the week of April 12, Bogar said.