Trucker gives John Delaney an earful about trucking regs at Iowa event

August 12, 2019

Greg Grisolano

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A trucker got to give Democratic presidential hopeful John Delaney an earful about ELDs and other trucking regulations last Friday during the Iowa State Fair.

Delaney is a former Maryland Congressman who served for six years from 2013 to 2019, until he opted to run for president rather than reelection. While in Congress, he served on the House Committee on Financial Services and the Joint Economic Committee.

In the video, the trucker starts off the exchange by asking Delaney if he knows about the trucking industry, to which Delaney responded, “I do.”

The man, who later in the video identifies himself as Jeremy Walters, then asks Delaney if he thinks those who work at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should be CDL holders. Delaney says it’s a technical question, and he’s really not sure.

The driver continues to ask the candidate about the electronic logging device mandate, specifically whether he thinks it’s right for “the federal government to be telling us how we should be driving.”

“Now, the computers are telling us when we can take our half-hour breaks, when we can sleep,” Walters said before Delaney interrupted him.

“I think regulations that hurt small business owners, or people who work for small business and are doing their jobs and supporting their families – I’m not for those,” he said. “I don’t know the specifics, but in general if it’s making it harder for you to do your job, that’s what I care about. I think regulations can be overly burdensome on small businesses.”

Sensing he’s found a somewhat sympathetic ear, Walters continues to tell Delaney about the burdens the mandate imposes on him and his fellow drivers, including detention time at shippers.

You can watch the full exchange as broadcast by C-SPAN here.