Forrest Lucas joins American Sikh truck owners in ELD mandate protest

Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil Products Inc. has joined with Sikhs Political Action Committee Chairman Gurinder Singh Khalsa, to express concern regarding the Trump administration decision to allow the electronic logging devices mandate to go forward.

The mandate is scheduled for Dec. 18, but has faced a barrage of lawsuits, petitions and protests. In light of mounting confusion and opposition, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) introduced a bill – HR 3282 – in the House that is very much alive and has 59 co-sponsors.

In a statement released Tuesday, Oct. 24, both Lucas and Khalsa expressed their concern about the impact of the regulation on the economy. They assert that trucks already deliver goods and products just in time. Delays will be costly to truck-related businesses, and small businesses will suffer the most adverse impacts of the proposed new law.

“The Sikhs and the truck groups and the coalitions are doing something important,” Lucas said. “They are bringing the problems of the ELD to the American public’s attention.”

Lucas was pleased to see the cooperation among the Sikhs and other truck groups as they held a news conference Sept. 27 in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club to call for a delay to allow a more reasonable approach. Lucas Oil is among those in the 31-member coalition formed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Lucas, a former trucker whose Corona, Calif.-based company markets products in more than 40 countries and relies on its company-owned fleet of more than 60 trucks to deliver its products across the U.S., also noted that it is the public who would be harmed by the regulations in the form of slower deliveries and increased costs. He has been a member of OOIDA and a longtime supporter of OOIDA and small-business truckers.

Approximately 150,000 Sikh truck owners joined with the national group of truck drivers Black and Blue in early October to protest the ELD mandate in Washington, D.C.; New York, and Sacramento, Los Angeles, Modesto and Fresno in California.