TACOMA, Wash. -- Hundreds of truck drivers gathered outside the Tacoma Dome to protest high fuel prices Tuesday, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.

The truckers are hoping the rally will help them to be able to negotiate rate increases and better fuel surcharges as a group.

"There's somebody at the top getting that money and it isn't us," said Deano Newbury, a log-truck driver.

Close to 170 logging trucks were off Washington state roads Tuesday while their drivers spent the day in Tacoma, trying to get support in Olympia for House Bill 3227.

"This bill will allow us as group, a united group, to address this issue with the timber companies and force them in a constructive manner to answer our requests," said Brian Gallagher of the Northwest Log Truckers Co-Op.

The trucker's requests include getting a better rate from timber companies, and as fuel charges spike, they also want a fuel surcharge to reflect those prices.

Video from KIRO-TV's Chopper 7 showed the log trucks pulling into the Tacoma Dome parking lot.

When fully loaded, the most of the log trucks get just more than four mpg. Driver Deano Newbury said he needs to drive 365 to 400 miles every day.

Newbury said the timber industry is essentially taking money from his boss, which in turn is money out of his pocket.

"My dad was a driver 20 years ago, and made a good living at it. Now we're driving today, and we're pushing as many hours, if not more, hauling over the same roads, and we're making the same amount today as we did then."

Lawmakers in Olympia will take up House Bill 3227 during the next legislative session. Truckers told KIRO that if something doesn't change, they eventually won't be able to make ends meet as the cost of doing business keeps going up.