Truck driver Matthew Garnett appeared on Fox News to talk about how he feels that “Big Brother” regulations allow the government to determine when he eats, works and sleeps.
Garnett was invited to appear on a four minute segment on Fox News following the publication of an article in The Federalist entitled “Truck Driver: ‘Overregulation’ Means Government Literally Deciding When I Work, Eat, And Sleep.”
Here are a few excerpts from Garnett’s article:
“Every minute of every day is monitored by Uncle Sam, who takes care that I can never make a decision for myself based on my circumstances. Because let’s face it, I just can’t take on that kind of responsibility. There’s no way I can decide for myself when I’m going to sleep or rest or drive. After all, I’m just a stupid truck driver. What would I know about such things?”
Garnett also writes about how regulations allow the federal government to be in charge of his off duty time:
“Even now, as I write, I am being monitored. I am on the “off-duty” line of my logs. If I get pulled over next week by a “diesel bear” (a state trooper dedicated to enforcing FMCA regs), he’s going to want to know where I was and what I was doing at this very moment, and whether the FMCA does or doesn’t allow that. For instance, even though my logging computer says I’m “off duty,” if it were found out that I’m writing an article for The Federalist instead of “resting,” I’d be in violation. I’m technically not supposed to be doing any work right now. I’m not supposed to mow the grass, or take out the trash. I definitely would be in violation if I got a part-time job on the weekend while I was supposed to be “off duty.”
