American Patriot Coalition was formed out of the need of the industry.  My husband Darwin and I are owner operators of a family auto transport company and found ourselves, in 2008, making so much less and working harder.  We had gone from a four car hauler to an eight car hauler just trying to keep up with the diesel prices.  When the Diesel prices hit well over $4.00 a gallon we evaluated our ability of actually staying in the business.  We had a lot invested in time and money with equipment and really had no other way of paying it off.  But the diesel price was only one factor in our decision.
 
  In this business one can see load prices go up and load prices go down.  But for six months not only have the load prices gone down and stayed down but have done so substantially.  We have questioned many brokers and found two things to be a factor in lower load prices.  The first is an outright bidding war among the brokers who are just trying to stay in business.  They are losing bids if they don't bid lower and they also are just trying to survive in an unregulated industry.  To keep their employees, some companies are bidding low and taking more of a percentage to keep their staff while others are just taking less.  The bottom line is the auto transporters are getting less for the loads.
 
  The other has to do with supply and demand.  People are moving less because the housing industry has been hit so hard.  The economy is wavering so people tend to make less important decisions and they hunker down and try to ride out the storm.  This makes the supply less with the same amount of transporters.  Well is that true??  We do not have the same amount of transporters because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association).  Anyone, regardless of American citizenship can become a carrier in the United States .  That is just politics folks.
 
  So we identified two major problems, diesel and load prices.  With diesel prices only expected to go up we can only really take control of the load prices.  My husband and I are Americans and maybe it is in our blood but we do not go down without a fight.  Some brokers wanted us not to take the lower load prices and many wonderful brokers have not compromised their bids.  But for us not to take the lower prices means we would have empty slots and not be able to pay out bills.  So we have come off the road and formed the American Patriot Coalition.  Our goals are to join the auto transporters who will say WE CAN'T STAY IN BUSINESS AT THESE LOAD PRICES, and the brokers who will stand together and say, THESE PRICES ARE THE INDUSTRY STANDARD AND WE ARE GOING TO STICK TO THEM.
 
Our plan has six steps:

1. Join together in membership a coalition of brokers and auto transporters.
2. Hold an annual conference in St Paul , MN and set industry pricing and discuss fuel surcharges.
3. Choose a date to start implementation
4. Elect several brokers and auto transporters who will meet when necessary to review diesel prices and adjust fuel surcharge as needed.
5. Those who continue to set low prices, we will work with them through education to join American Patriot Coalition.
6. Work with our elected officials toward better recognition of our industries needs.