what can the State do with a bunch of new rigs?
Give them to the Spanish Army? Sell them abroad? Compensate the owners for a portion of their losses? I have no idea who would be hurt most if an owner-operator walked away from his loan and sent the keys to the holder of the loan. If it were large corporations that needed bailing out I'm sure the solution would be much more obvious. I have no idea how many owner-operators might respond. In the US this would fly in the face of usual practice which is to cover the losses of the big boys, who don't really need it and where the aid won't really accomplish the objective--capacity reduction. It is, perhaps, a whimsical idea to try to help small businessmen through a painful transition. I just wondered if in Spain it might actually be possible and even helpful. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Nationalising an independent sector would be a neat trick. I'm not sure it's been attempted before. It's probably illegal too, but it's still a fun idea.
If you nationalise the whole industry, you would simply have to ensure that the domestic industry is not treated better than foreign (European) trucking companies. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
