Protesting truck drivers form long convoys in Germany

Fuel price protests reached Germany Saturday, with truck drivers rumbling in long convoys of heavy vehicles along autobahns Saturday to demand cuts in Germany's tax on diesel fuel. Police said the various convoys which converged on a private truck stop at Berg, on the northern edge of Bavaria state, had totalled 10 kilometres in length.
They did not block traffic but did cause tailbacks as other vehicles waited to pass the big rigs.
An estimated 300 trucks from eastern regions took part in the "diesel demo." Rudi Stoehr, who organised the protest, told 500 drivers and assorted farmers with tractors that soaring fuel prices were driving German truck companies towards bankruptcy. The drivers demanded tax cuts and also protested at low pay for drivers and grim conditions on state-run highway truck stops.