DUTCH GO-SLOW
In Thailand, truckers said they were ready to block roads into the capital if the government did not meet demands including discounting diesel and making cheap loans available to convert engines to compressed natural gas.
In the Netherlands, protesters slowed their trucks to 50 kph (30 mph) for about half an hour on Thursday to try to force the government to scrap a diesel tax hike due next month.
"This is the limit, our tanks are empty," said a board placed beside the highway by truckers association TLN calling for drivers to support the go-slow.
Some Dutch drivers also blocked a stretch of highway, halting their trucks, Dutch broadcaster NOS said.
The Dutch government will meet TLN and Dutch transport group EVO next week to talk about the price of diesel, TLN said. Last week, the government said it would go ahead with the increase.
In Britain, about 500 tanker drivers who supply Shell petrol stations are threatening to strike for days from Friday.
Spain's government tempted most truckers back to work with promises of tax breaks on Wednesday but has refused to accede to demands for minimum haulage charges. Tax breaks were also offered by Portugal, which also negotiated an end to its strike.
Spain said deliveries of food and other goods were returning to normal on Thursday after the agreement although food distribution centres reported shortages and car factories remained at a standstill.
However the scene at Madrid's main food market, Mercamadrid, which supplies the capital's shops and supermarkets, was far from normal as the number of deliveries was reduced to a trickle because non-striking truckers were being stopped by picketers.
Riot police in body armour have broken up picket lines and the government has promised a police escort for working trucks.
With fishermen already on strike and Madrid taxi drivers due to stop working for 24 hours from Friday, Spain is being hit hard by the protests. Zapatero has been criticised by media and the opposition for failing to do more to confront the strike.
"Whose fault is this? The state, the politicians. They promise so much," a 62-year-old woman shopping at Mostenses Market in central Madrid said.
