The U.S. Government is still out of gas, but Friday morning may see a colossal traffic jam on Washington’s Beltway … or maybe not.
The Truckers Ride for the Constitution” has threatened to clog the Inner Loop of DC’s perimeter highway with semis to protest … something-or-other.
Of course it all may be a hoax. Or something said in jest that was taken seriously by the story-hungry media. Hey, why not? It makes more sense than the Republican hissy fit that got us into this shutdown mess.
In any case, the stunt is hardly feasible. Greg Otto of the Washington Business Journall has done the math. To encircle just one lane of the 64-mile Capital Beltway would take 5,631 tractor-trailers. Clogging all three lanes would take about 16,983 semis. Each truck would have to refuel after 31 laps around the ring, with a diesel tab of $13.5 million.
More:
“Truckers’ protest: Convoy or con?” Kevin Robillard, Politico
UPDATE:
A few protesting trucks convoyed on the Beltway this morning but there were no delays. How many trucks? About thirty, the same as the number of Tea Party congressmen holding the U.S. Government and the world economy hostage.
— “Trucker protest hits Beltway but causes no delays, authorities say,” Dana Hedgpeth and Lori Aratani, Washington Post
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Tags: "Tea Party", Beltway, Capital Beltway, DC, Inner Loop, Truckers Ride for the Constitution, trucks, Washington DC
NotionsCapital 
October 11, 2013 at 8:50 pm
so sorry that this idea didn’t take wind. I feel that if the congress can inconvenience America they could feel some of it there.
October 11, 2013 at 10:31 pm
steve chalenor wrote: “I feel that if the congress can inconvenience America they could feel some of it there.”
Actually, Congress isn’t from DC, which isn’t even allowed a vote there. The rest of the country elected the people who got us into this mess. As Petula Dvorack says, “Don’t slam D.C. for the shutdown, America: You sent these wackos here!”