By JAMES RONALD SKAINS
Journal Correspondent

A verbose crowd of 150 Piney Woods loggers and truckers gathered in the Olla, Louisiana elementary school to voice their concerns about what they characterized as "a fight for survival against short odds."

The Monday evening, March 24 meeting was the second organized by trucking company owner Ron Laird of Olla. The first meeting was held in January with freshman Congressman Rodney Alexander leading the pack of Louisiana elected officials. State Representative Lelon Kenney of Columbia was also in attendance, as he was at the second meeting Monday night.

At the March 24 meeting, Congressman Alexander, of Quitman, said, "We do know and we admit that we have some serious problems. I'm here to listen and try to understand the problems and how they are affecting your business. I will work to solve the problems to the best of my ability."

Alexander, who spent 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives before running successfully for Congress earlier this year, continued, "Some of the problems you are talking about are on the federal level, and some are at the state level. "You have a strong group of local representatives and senators from this area to help you, including the new representative from District 13, Jim Fannin, who made forestry and logging a priority in his campaign."

"I was well aware before I was elected that the imported lumber was causing a lot of difficulties in the forest industry," the Congressman emphasized. "As soon as I got to Washington, I began working on the problem, and have co-authored a bill that will give U.S. lumber manufacturers some relief."

In a post-meeting conversation with The Piney Woods Journal,, Ron Laird said, "I'm pleased with the turnout. At our first meeting we only had 40 people show up, but tonight we had over 150, plus a bunch of politicians."

In addition to Congressman Alexander and Rep. Kenney, Senators Bill Jones, Mike Smith, and Noble Ellington were in attendance. From the House side were Jim Fannin, Rick Gallo, Taylor Townsend, Willie Hunter, and Tommy Wright. Acting Commissioner of Insurance Robert Wooley was also in attendance, as was Mark Herbert of Sen. John Breaux's office.

Acting Commissioner of Insurance Wooley told those attending, "The three reasons that insurance is so high in Louisiana are, Governor Foster, the Insurance Rating Commission, and lack of competition."

"And the lack of competition is the direct result of actions by Governor Foster and the Insurance Rating Commission," said Wooley, who became acting Commissioner when Jim Brown was sentenced to prison. "The Legislature tried to abolish the Insurance Rating Commission, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Foster."

The Journal asked Wooley, who grew up in Alexandria and Monroe before heading south to LSU Law School, to elaborate on the role of the Insurance Rating Commission and the current high insurance rates.

"For an insurance company to do business in Louisiana, they are required to submit a full disclosure of information to the Insurance Department," Wooley explained. "However, they must also go before the Rating Commission and present their information, which is a duplication, and costs them considerable time and money. The members of the Rating Commission are for the most part political appointees and the hearings before the Rating Commission are played out for the benefit of the politicians, namely the Governor."

"The insurance companies find that going before the Rating Commission is both costly and time consuming, and becomes a media circus," Wooley said. "So, a lot of insurance companies have decided not to do business in Louisiana if they are going to have to jump through political hoops."

"Back during the heyday of the stock market, the Rating Commission allowed some insurance companies to reduce their rates against the advice of actuaries who said that if the rates went down, they would have to go back up steeper than they dropped," Wooley emphasized. "And that is what is happening now. The insurance companies are demanding big rate increases to help them recover from their losses in the stock market."

Ron Laird, organizer of the meeting and chief spokesman, told the Journal, "Fox McKeithen, the secretary of state, told me that the reason the insurance rates are so high in Louisiana was because of the safety record of the loggers and their trucks. The loggers and truckers are going to have to start taking responsibility for the safety of their trucks."

There were numerous complaints, some rather passionate, registered by those in attendance. A sampling:
"Trucking supports the whole economy with the money paid in taxes, insurance, and fuel."

"The reason the insurance is so high is because there is no ceiling on lawsuit damages in vehicle accidents."

"The problem with our elected officials is that they have no idea how the things they are passing will affect the lives of the people they are supposed to serve."

"The CDL program is a big joke. It was created to bring in revenue and help the insurance companies make money."

"You can buy insurance in other states for half what you can in Louisiana."

"I got a $2,100 over-weight ticket, but when I weighed at the mill, I weighed a lot less than the Weights and Measures people said I weighed on the side of the road."

"I've been stopped and inspected four times in one day."

"A trooper gave me a $38 ticket and told me that $38 wouldn't hurt. $38 will be my family a lot of groceries."

"The enforcement people have the guns and badges and they will do what they want to do."

"Everybody but the loggers and truckers get something besides a hard time from the government."

"Every day you get stopped on the highway, you lose a load of production that day. The money from that one lost load would have turned over several times."

Jim Fannin, the newly elected State Representative from parts of Winn, Bienville, Ouachita, Lincoln and Jackson parishes, said, "I've been a member of the Farm Bureau and the Cattlemen's Association for a long time. We have problems but we are able to solve a lot of them because we are organized and speak with one voice."

"I suggest that you get organized and push to get your problems solved through legislators like myself and those others in attendance tonight," Fannin stated. "I think that it would take less time to be involved in an organization working for your best interest, than the time that you now lose being tied up on the side of the road with inspections and weights."

Bill Jones, the State Senator from Ruston, told the meeting attendees, "I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do know the problems. I've encountered these same problems you have been telling me about many times when I was in the wood treating business. I will tell you that I want to help you solve your problems. Just tell us what you think that we can do to help."

Senator Noble Ellington of Winnsboro suggested strongly that the group get organized so that a few guys can meet with the elected officials and work on solving the problems.

The Journal asked Ron Laird, the meeting coordinator, "Where do we go from here?"

"I'm pleased with the turnout, especially from the politicians," Laird replied. "The five most important issues to come out of the meeting were the weights, the insurance, the big fines, fuel tax, and forcing the law enforcement officers to have `probable cause' before stopping a truck on the highway. The legislators in attendance have promised to introduce legislation this week for the upcoming session to try and solve some of these issues."

Next meeting of the loggers and truckers is scheduled during the Louisiana Forest Festival in Winnfield in late April.

Back