Trucker protests over high fuel prices and low rates began in California late in April, but have since caught on in ports in Virginia and Houston.

More than 50 independent drivers walked off the job recently at Bridge Terminal Transport in East Houston.

They want the company to start chipping in considerably more to help pay their rising fuel costs – among other things. Drivers say they now pay an extra $150 a week out of their own pockets to fuel their rigs and keep working.

The main issue: Fuel costs have risen so much that independent truckers can’t make a profit – they’re surviving by the skin of their teeth.

"That's what's killing us -- the fuel prices. If the fuel prices would go down, we wouldn't be out here," trucker Urben Williams told KHOU television in Houston.

Some California and Virginia drivers have agreed to go back to work, but they vow to protest once again if their demands are not met.