A petition asking the White House to immediately suspend Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations has garnered thousands of signatures in just a few days.
On October 25, the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) created a WhiteHouse.gov petition asking for the U.S. government to intervene to suspend current ELD regulations in the wake of new crash data that shows that fatal trucker crashes increased in the first full year of the ELD Mandate.
Since the petition was created, it has been signed by 9,815 individuals.
The petition reads:
On October 22, 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) released new data that show that in 2018, the first full year the new ELD rule was in effect for the trucking industry to enforce commercial motor vehicle operators’ compliance with hours of service regulations, more than 2 occupants of large trucks died. Every. Single. Day. This is the highest number of such deaths since 1988, making this stat a 30-year high. We believe ELDs have caused drivers anxiety to such levels that many now recklessly speed to beat the clock. We call on the Whitehouse to direct the USDOT to act on NHTSA findings and immediately suspend ELDs until unintended consequences can be studied to decide if the rule is ripe for repeal.
“When 10,000 people immediately go out of their way over the weekend to sign a petition, you know you’re dealing with an issue that must be addressed,” SBTC President James Lamb said. “That requires the President, Congress, the USDOT bureaucracy, and the media to feel the passion of members of the industry and listen to their concerns.”
The October 22 NHTSA report showed that while crash fatalities in all categories were down in 2018, large truck occupant fatalities increased by 0.8% to 885 in total for the year.
The petition must gain another 90,185 signatures by November 24, 2019, to recieve a response from the White House.
If you would like to view or sign the petition, you can click here.