Truckers’ message delivered
OOIDA delivered the message, and the U.S. Department of Transportation listened.
In late June, the White House and the DOT announced their “Pro-Trucker Package,” which is aimed at improving the truck driving profession through nine initiatives. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association played a key role in advocating on behalf of truckers for all nine of the priorities.
“OOIDA and the 150,000 truckers we proudly represent welcome these transformational actions from President Donald Trump and Secretary Sean Duffy,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said.
“These steps not only improve the daily lives of truckers across America but also enhance safety for everyone on the road. For years, truckers have urged Washington to address the severe shortage of truck parking, eliminate the dangers posed by a national speed limiter mandate and give drivers greater control over their hours of service.
“We thank President Trump and Secretary Duffy for listening to the men and women behind the wheel who keep America’s economy moving.”
The “Pro-Trucker Package” takes steps toward addressing such OOIDA big-ticket items as expanding truck parking, stopping a speed limiter mandate and providing hours-of-service flexibility. It also aims to reduce regulatory burdens, modernize driver resources, slash red tape and crack down on bad actors.
Increase truck parking capacity. The DOT is advancing millions in grant funding and is recognizing the truck parking crisis as a “national priority.”
Withdraw speed limiter rulemaking. The DOT announced it will not move forward with the previous administration’s efforts to require commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with speed-limiting devices.
- Increase hours-of-service flexibility. The DOT will create pilot programs that will provide truck drivers more control to operate when they believe it is safe.
- Improve FMCSA’s driver resource page. The agency is taking steps to do a better job of delivering drivers the information and resources they need.
- Reform DataQ. FMCSA will propose revisions to the program aimed at ensuring proper due process for truck drivers.
- Modernize National Consumer Complaint Database. The DOT plans to modernize the platform so that it can be more responsive to truck driver complaints.
- Address unlawful brokering. The DOT said it will renew its focus on protecting truck drivers from double brokering and other illegal practices.
- Maintain ELD exemption on pre-2000 engines. The DOT confirmed that it has no plans to remove the exemption for older trucks.
- Remove “needless” regulations. The DOT has already started the process of taking several deregulatory actions.
“Truckers keep America running,” Duffy said. “While the country sleeps, truckers grind through the night to help keep shelves stocked, families fed and businesses humming. It’s a job that requires grit and dedication. But for too long, Washington, D.C., has made work harder for truckers. That ends today. Thanks to President Trump, we’re getting Washington out of your trucks and your business.”
The paper trail linking OOIDA to these actions is pretty extensive. In fact, OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh addressed at least seven of the issues at a House subcommittee hearing in March.
“Truck parking, speed limiters, hours-of-service flexibility, the National Consumer Complaint Database, DataQ reform … These are all things that Lewie Pugh has been telling folks on Capitol Hill through Congressional testimony,” said Collin Long, OOIDA’s director of government affairs. “He was a witness at a Senate hearing earlier this year as well as a House hearing earlier this year, and he talked about all of these items. He provided a blueprint for Washington to start enacting all of these changes that really benefit professional drivers. The administration took that to heart, and they said, ‘Here’s what our authority allows us to do on these issues.’ It’s moving every one of them in the right direction.”
But OOIDA’s efforts to bring light to all of these issues have roots going back much farther than this year. The Association’s work on these issues started years – and often decades – ago.
Pugh noted that the DOT initiatives prove all those calls and meetings with lawmakers and regulators really can push things in the right direction.
“This is not just a win for the Association,” he said. “It’s a win for all truckers and members out there who are active and belong to OOIDA. This is what happens when members answer our Calls to Action and make their voices heard. It can take a long time, but this really does work. Like OOIDA President Todd Spencer always says,‘We’re stronger together.’”
Truck parking
The DOT is advancing more than $275 million in grant funding to expand truck parking availability. A memo also will be issued affirming that truck parking is a national priority under Jason’s Law.
OOIDA has been out in front of the truck parking issue for years and helped Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., craft the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act when it was first introduced in 2020. The current version of the bill would dedicate $755 million to expanding parking capacity.
Speed limiters
For the second time, the Trump administration is shelving a rulemaking that would have required most commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with speed limiting devices.
OOIDA and individual truckers told regulators that the requirement would create dangerous speed differentials and hinder safety. The most recent notice from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration received more than 15,000 comments. The majority of the comments came from truck drivers who are opposed to a mandate.
Hours-of-service flexibility
The DOT initiative calls for a pair of pilot programs that would provide truck drivers more control over their hours. The first pilot program would allow truckers to pause their clock for up to three hours, and the second would allow additional split sleeper berth options, including 6/4 and 5/5 splits.
Pugh asked for both of these provisions at the House hearing in March.
Driver resources
FMCSA is upgrading its digital tools to provide better support for drivers and to make the tools mobile accessible.
FMCSA’s Driver Resource page is designed to provide truck drivers with important information about many of OOIDA’s core issues, such as entry-level driver training.
DataQ
The agency is proposing revisions to the DataQ requirements for grant funding to ensure proper due process for drivers. The goal is to improve the impartiality, timeliness and fairness of the data review process.
For years, OOIDA has advocated for DataQ reform.
“The current Requests for Data Review process, or DataQ, is broken,” Pugh testified in March.
National Consumer Complaint Database
The National Consumer Complaint Database was created as a way for truckers to file complaints to FMCSA about coercion, fraud and unsafe practices. Under the DOT’s initiative, the NCCDB is being migrated to a modern customer service platform to be user-friendly and mobile-friendly.
OOIDA told Congress and regulators that the system needs a complete overhaul, as it is unresponsive to the complaints. The Association also asked for the name to be changed, as truck drivers often don’t even realize that the database was designed for them.
Double brokering
To promote fairness and stability of the industry, FMCSA said it is renewing its focus on combating unlawful double brokering – a practice that directly harms drivers.
OOIDA has been a leader in the fight against broker fraud and general freight fraud. At House and Senate hearings this year, Pugh spoke out about the problems truckers face with double brokering and other criminal activities. OOIDA petitioned FMCSA to create a broker transparency rule as one way to combat the problem.
ELDs
When the controversial electronic logging device mandate took effect in 2017, pre-2000 trucks were exempt and could continue to use paper logs to track hours of service.
The DOT confirmed that it has no plans to remove that exemption despite hints of efforts in that direction from the previous administration.
OOIDA opposed the original ELD mandate and has continued to fight for the exemption to remain.
Deregulatory actions
The DOT has already been in the process of removing “needless” regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
For years, OOIDA has pushed for more focus on actual safety rather than compliance with regulations that often have nothing to do with the likelihood of a crash.
Breaking through
Throughout OOIDA’s more than 50 years, the Association has explained to lawmakers and government officials that truck drivers are the true experts when it comes to highway safety. Instead of making their job more difficult by continually adding burdensome regulations, truckers should be used as a resource.
“I think a lot of these initiatives are going to enhance safety,” Long said. “This administration is coming out and saying, ‘These drivers are the experts on safety. Let’s take their word and move forward with things like providing more hours-of-service flexibility … They’re killing a lot of birds with nine stones here, but they are really demonstrating to our members and our organization that they’re listening.”
With that said, there is a lot more work to be done. The decision-makers are paying attention, but truckers can’t stop now. OOIDA is encouraging all of its 150,000 members to continue making those phone calls and filing those comments to help take all of these initiatives to the finish line.
This latest breakthrough shows that advocacy can work.
“A lot of our members express concerns that things don’t really happen in Washington or that things don’t really change in Washington,” Long said. “The announcement is clearly a departure from that. Things are happening. Things are changing because the administration is listening to drivers and organizations who represent them, like OOIDA.” LL