With Santa placed out of service, truckers save Christmas

Apparently, truck drivers aren’t the only ones who believe they are overregulated. Santa Claus joined members of the Minnesota Trucking Association on Friday, Dec. 20, at the Minnesota State Capitol to speak out against “an overabundance of government regulations that defy common sense.”

According to the Minnesota Trucking Association, Santa’s entire sleigh and reindeer team had been temporarily put out of service and that the mandatory 10 hours off “put a major kink in Santa’s tight worldwide logistics timeline.”

The out-of-service order noted violations for Santa driving more than 11 hours in one day, as well as the sleigh’s lack of handrails, skid-resistant steps and an electronic logging device. In addition, Rudolph’s warning light failed to meet NHTSA’s reflective-materials standard, and Dasher was producing “excessive noxious emissions” after drinking too much egg nog.

Have no fear though. With Santa sidelined, truck drivers are working to make sure Christmas goes on as planned.

The Minnesota Trucking Association said truckers will help Santa deliver more than $729 billion in gifts and goods during the 2019 Christmas season, including 30 million Christmas trees, 22 million turkeys, and a yet-to-be tallied number of cellphones, Instant Pots, “Frozen 2” toys, Madden 20 video games and “everything else that makes Christmas possible, from tinsel to twinkle lights to nativity sets.”

Santa Claus said he will continue to fight overregulation.

“I am confident that common sense will prevail for future years, but for this season I just have to say thank you to the truckers helping deliver Christmas,” Santa said.