Truckers head to Washington D.C. for protest
As part of the ongoing fight against the December enforcement of the ELD mandate ( electronic logging devise), there is expected to be large numbers of drivers heading for the ELD Trucker protest to Washington D.C. scheduled for Oct 3rd thru the 7th.
Whether that number of trucks and drivers participating is in the hundreds or the anticipated thousands, the mood is passionate and determined. Even drivers who can not attend the D.C. event will be a part of the protest by shutting down to show their support.
Those leading the protests are 2 main groups: ELD or Me and Operation Black and Blue. Both of these groups are active on Facebook, initiating and promoting the events on the social media platform
There are drivers in both Mexico and Canada who have also vowed to participate in some way, demonstrating support in unison with the Operation Black and Blue and ELD and Me groups.
Organizers of the groups are working tirelessly to coordinate the events. Although they are 2 separate groups, they are working in unity towards the same goal of defeating over-regulation such as the ELD mandate.
Operation Black and Blue
Founder Mike Gunney Faram
Organizers Scott Jordon,Joe Alfaro. Steve Bussone, John Grosvenor, Kuzma Samoilov, Sierra Sugar
ELD or Me
Founder Scott Reed
Admins: Tony Justice Richard Wilson, Earl Doc Blackmon, Ingrid Brown Brian Bucenell
Operation Black and Blue DC meet up locations
1 Truck Rendezvous Point
Our meeting place for large trucks is in Hagerstown, Md. Interstate 81 exit 5b there are 2 truck stops. The AC&T and the Pilot Travel Center. They are located about 72 miles northeast of Washington DC. About 1 hour and 22 minutes from DC. Overflow parking is available at the Flying J truckstop in Virginia I-81 exit 323, TA travel center in Pennsylvania I-81 exit 5.
2 Rally Point in DC
We will be at the Ellipse, which is off from
(U.S. 50) Constitution Ave NW and 16th St NW
directly south of the White House. ?
Meeting Locations for ELD or Me Trucking Protest-Washinton D.C. Oct-3rd thru 7th
ELD or Me Meeting described more in Flyer
When: Oct 3rd thru 5th
Where: Washington D.C.
Meet Location: Doswell Truckstop
10222 Kings Dominion BLVD
Doswell.VA 23047
How ELD’s all came about:
When the first Mega Carriers were forced to use EOBR’s because of excessive violations, the ATA had to do something or independents would have an advantage. In a final rule , the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration decided that serious violators of major hours-of-service (HOS) regulations must install electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) in all their trucks and use them to track compliance.
ATA and others within the industry then lobbied for ELD’s to be law for EVERYONE, using the safety groups to join in.
Despite numerous attempts by OOIDA to eliminate the mandate, or even members of Congress to delay the law, as of now the mandate stands. Continuous efforts to support H.R. 3282 will be discussed among many other things on the trip to Washington.
The H.R.3282 – ELD Extension Act of 2017 is a bill which would delay the ELD mandate by 2 years, giving enough time for more research to be conducted to determine if the ELD’s would improve safety or create a more unsafe environment.
To know more about the demonstration and what the groups ELD or Me and Operation Black and Blue stand for, listen to the Saturday night replay
Open Forum- ELD’s , drivers wages, and Washington D.C. protest
To understand more how ELD’s will further effect driver wages read
“How ELD mandate combined with Anti-Trucker wage provisions leads to wage reduction”
© 2017, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.
I am supporting eld or me and black and blue.i am against forced elds. I will be parked.
ELD’s Bringing HOS into the limelight has reduced my yearly income by over $20,000. Not only has it reduced my income, it has also severely capped what I can make as a teamster.
I work for TCC. Which is a spill response company working with Alyeska. I have a great schedule. Week on week off. 12 hours a day. I usually get about 5 weeks of overtime a year. At least I did before the new mandate. If I wanted to get two weeks off I could do a shift trade. Not anymore. I can’t sign up for overtime because of the 80hr/8 days rule (I work in Alaska). And shift trades are a thing of the past.
In my job I am lucky if I get to see 10 hours a week in a commercial vehicle. Most of my driving is in a 1 ton pickup. And I only drive locally. Never more than 15 miles away from home base. And even so, most of my time at work is no driving at all. It is just busy work, because we are a standby company that just spends its time making sure things are ready to go in case of an oil spill.
It used to be a dream retirement job. Now I have to find a different career because I can’t live on what the HOS law has capped my earnings at. I’m 46 years old. Looking for a new career at 46 is quite frustrating.
[…] example is that of the electronic logging device (ELD) which is a bone of contention for many truckers. Another example is FMCSA granting exemption request to C.R. England so that a learner’s […]