Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/769491
Voices 2 | Overdrive | January 2017 Following news of President-Elect Donald Trump's likely nomination of Elaine Chao, former Secretary of Labor under George W. Bush, to head the Department of Trans- portation, Overdrive asked readers about their ideal agenda for the new honcho. It was a reprise of a ques- tion asked when President Obama nominated current DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx to replace Ray La- Hood back in 2013. Many responses expressed the sen- timent of Steve Mitchell's message for Foxx when he was nominated: "When are they going to come up with a program to do away with all of these new programs?" Since that time, Congress has been the vehicle through which truckers and other trucking interests have got- ten a little of what they want, such as the 34-hour restart changes and the dent put into parts of the Compli- ance, Safety, Accountability program. The DOT and its secretary haven't spearheaded much in the way of fa- vored regulatory progress in trucking, but that situation might change in the near future. Noted Craig Vecellio, Chao's pick by Trump was cause for some hope: "Chao has a history of deregulation." William McKelvie, commenting on Facebook, asked: "Can we please just get back to trucking now? We need a system that works with the drivers and owners, not against them," going on to echo Phil Killerlain's sentiment on electronic logging devices: "First, end the ELD mandate!" McKelvie: "If the big companies want [to use] ELDs, that is fine, and if they want to play race the clock, then let them pay their drivers by the clock hour." However, congressional action or a court order is likely to be nec- essary to turn back the mandate. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association continues to press its court challenge, but given that a recent Republican-controlled Congress was responsible for codify- ing the ELD mandate, the legislative front could represent a tall order unless representatives truly listen to the drumbeat coming from those against the mandate. Opposition to ELDs is so strong among Overdrive's audience that seven in 10 readers report eyeing the mandate's pre-2000 model-year exemption for their operation, whether already running in a 1999 or older truck or actively looking for one today. One reader's com- ment reflected the view of many small-business truckers, suggesting moving against the mandate ought to be priority No. 1 for both the new administration and Congress: "If an independent like me is fine with my paper logs, why force me to [use an ELD]? I may get my log checked by an officer maybe once or twice a year. In over 30 years, I've never had a ticket or warning on any logging issue." Andy Soucy brought up the long- standing exemption of company drivers from the Fair Labor Stan- dards Act's overtime-pay require- ments placed on employers in other sectors. Some readers over the years have advocated this should be re- Readers to DOT: Fix these problems Owner-operators' priorities for incoming DOT secretary 1. Roll back/cancel ELD mandate 2. More 14-hour clock flexibility in hours of service 3. Roll back/modify other proposed regs 4. Bolster highway funding for more construction/maintenance 5. More focus and funding for truck parking 6. Bring employee drivers under overtime-pay requirements 7. Fix CSA's myriad problems, including crash accountability 8. Other 48% 19% 10% 6% 5% 4% 3% 5% Polled in early December, readers of OverdriveOnline.com were asked to name their favored priority for the incoming Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Fred Wilson echoed others who urged DOT's chief to "work with truckers to bring change in areas that would actually benefit truckers and the industry." More funding for highway construction and maintenance ranked fourth among owner-operator concerns.