Truck drivers rally against new regulation effective in two weeks

MT. VERNON, IL (KFVS) - A new regulation is heating up truck drivers across the nation. The U.S. Department of Transportation will soon require them to log their hours electronically. From the East to the West Coast, truck drivers rallied on Monday morning to protest this new regulation.

Stephen Dowdy, an Independent truck driver at the rally in Mt Vernon, Illinois expressed his frustration about the Electronic Logging Devices.

"Leave me alone!" he said. "I've been driving for going on for 28 years and I've run paper all these years…just like anything else, if it isn't broke don't fix it."

On December 18, all truck drivers will have to install ELD's on their rigs and drive no more than 14 hours a day.

In addition, the ELD's are not cheap. One trucker said the device ranges in price from $100 to $1000.

"The majority of the smaller business owners as myself, do not want these things, we do not need these things, but they are trying to force us at our expense to put these in our trucks," Dowdy explained.

Another independent trucker, Patrick Karns, is not happy either.

"I've been trucking for 30 years and never had a log book violation – why is the government forcing this upon us is what we want to know," he questioned.

"How can you make me safer? Prove to me how this nonsense will make me and other safer?" Dowdy asked

The American Trucking Association is a strong defender of the ELD's.

"ELDs work by improving compliance with the current hours-of-service rules, as supported by federal data showing that use of an ELD reduced the truck crash rate by 11.7% and reduced hours-of-service violations by 50% when compared to users of paper logs."

But Dowdy said drivers like him don't need a device to keep them safe.

"No tickets, no accidents, zero points on my CSA score …that's as perfect as you can get in the truck driving business ..how in God's name can you make me any safer? If anything, it's going to be just the opposite [because] I'm going to feel the pressure of that clock."

There is an effort to keep this rule from taking effect. Representative Brian Babin of Texas is requesting action from President Trump to delay the mandate until next summer.

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