President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is well under way, already making moves in the trucking world with employees of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration answering each week an email that asks, simply, what are five things you did last week?
Overdrive recently asked its readers a question, too: Do you have insights into unsafe, abusive, fraudulent or wasteful practices within the government or industry? After taking suggestions from a variety of operators, the areas earmarked in the chart rose to the fore.
Here's what Overdrive's mostly owner-operator audience had to say about each topic.
ELDs/Hours of service rules. Overdrive was there in 2017 and earlier in the run-up to the electronic-logging-device mandate and remembers well the fight that some in trucking put up. The 55% of respondents who flagged ELDs/HOS rules as a problem reminds us the ire over required electronic logging equipment remains alive and well.
"If they want to find fraud, start with the mandatory ELD programs implemented," one commenter said.
Commenter Richard Davis gave Trump both barrels in calling for ELD reform.
"Remember a lot of drivers thought Trump would get rid of ELDs the first time?" the frequent OverdriveOnline.com commenter noted. The issue of electronic logs didn't move the first Trump administration to act in that way, though his administration's FMCSA was responsible for perhaps the most significant change in the hours of service since the 14-hour rule came into play in 2003. Namely, loosening of split-sleeper rules -- not a perfect rule as most truckers see it but a step in the right direction, as many noted at the time.
Commenter Davis, though, was cynical about the prospects for change on this front today, noting "anything [Trump's administration] does that would help the truck driver would hurt his rich buddies, and that's not going to happen."
Davis went on to say the issue of detention, specifically unpaid detention time, as "maybe the biggest problem in trucking. It causes problems in other areas like commerce, safety, drivers' time, and pay."
[Related: No more detention half measures: Time is now to charge for it, and collect]
Other commenters agreed on the detention front. "Anyone who has ever hauled for a broker has undoubtedly come across the ridiculous terms for detention," said one, noting common policies at shipper locations of "two, three, four hours free, $25/hour after." Such a low level of detention compensation is "absurd with the amount of overhead cost there is to operate."
Too often, even presented with all the right documentation, the commenter added, most brokers simply say they'll put in a request for detention pay. "I'm sorry but I'm not requesting," the commenter said. "The wait was documented and there should be no question whether you will be paid or not. ... 100% of detention should go to the carrier. ... There should be a mandated standard to protect the people that are actually doing the work and ensure they are not taking a loss, while the broker profits."
Looking squarely at hours rules, commenter Jeffrey Martin appeared to agree with the vast majority of Overdrive readers who favor maximum flexibility in split-sleeper rules under the hours of service "instead of this 14-hour clock," he said. FMCSA should get "back to the 24-hour clock."
[Related: Significant hours of service change: FMCSA's 2020 split-sleeper provisions, explained]
Rigidity in the hours rule and its electronic recording hasn't escaped academic attention, either, with the 2023 book "Data Driven: Truckers, technology and the new workplace surveillance" exploring how ELDs have changed basic humanity over-the-road.Overdrive's own reporting has shed light on the costs and some benefits this "workplace surveillance" bring over-the-road.
In any case, whether it's fair pay for detention, wasting trucker's time, or the various headaches of big tech platforms trying to link up to your ELD, it's clear the issue is alive and well for Overdrive readers.
Truck parking. Nearly half of respondents (46%) flagged truck parking as needing improvement. With billions in federal, state and local parking allocated for truck parking projects, why aren't conditions over-the-road improving? truckers ask. While start-ups like Truck Parking Club have opened up plenty of new truck parking, they mostly want to get paid for their services, sometimes even putting up a paywall around previously free spaces. Overdrive readers reported last summer not taking kindly to the practice, with 74% against it.
"Truck parking without charging us is a big factor," wrote Martin. Certainly, it would be nice to see those billions of dollars in government funds becoming usable truck parking spaces. Maybe DOGE will have a look?
Temp visa/permanent work programs for foreign/immigrant drivers. We've heard from many drivers in the audience about what they see as an influx of foreign drivers: complaints about drivers who don't speak English, and/or who might accept lower rates/pay, distorting freight markets before returning to the home country at the end of a temporary-visa stay. While the depth and scope of temporary foreign CDL drivers in the United States remains unclear, our own research is ongoing, and 39% of respondents flagging this in particular as an issue for attention raises the profile. As some readers have suggested in past, maybe that's who is hauling all the cheap freight?
Commenters didn't address this subject directly in response to polling, but it's certainly being discussed at FMCSA and among trucking associations, even in state legislatures. A recent bill in Arkansas seeks to criminalize non-citizen drivers and/or those issued non-domiciled CDLs by other states.
CDL driver training. “Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was" is a famous quote from actor Will Rogers. Since time immemorial, seasoned veterans in the trucking business have called out an influx of new drivers who don't know what they're doing, and maybe this time they're right? The 30% of respondents flagging the issue had a lot to say about new drivers and training.
Jeffrey Martin framed the issue as one for trucking to address itself. Martin complained of companies putting trainee drivers in fully-loaded tractor-trailers to get trained by "another driver that has six to 12 weeks of training. Heck no!" he said. "That's why I try to help these drivers that don't have a lot of experience, especially when they are trying to back in a spot in a truck stop."
Don't help? In that case, "you are getting ready to get your truck hit," Martin said. "I've seen it, and you truck drivers have seen it too. ... It's not the driver's fault for being inexperienced. It's the trucking companies' fault for sending that driver OTR with hardly no experience. We need to work together, drivers."
[Related: Training regs may miss the mark, but this small fleet's doing it right]
Another commenter said Martin had a "good point," but disagreed on the remedy. "To help these guys shouldn't be our responsibility," he wrote. "So-called trained drivers should never be put out here until they're ready."
Invoking hours of service issues, he went on to ask "how many of us can really take the time out of our nonstop clock without taking our time away from our own day? Hey, you companies that are pushing these types of drivers into the real world of OTR operations are guilty of putting people in danger. These guys need to stay local until they get that experience, and even then to be reviewed before going OTR."
Roadside inspections. With the Roadcheck inspection blitz coming up, it's perhaps a little surprising that only 16% of respondents flagged this area as one of their top three for major concerns, but maybe that's due to the nature of the audience: bad things can happen to anyone when an inspector's had a bad day, but Overdrive readers know the rules of the game and keep their equipment tip-top.
"The cops will be the first to tell you that they're not mechanics, so basically they have very little idea" of what on a truck merits a violation, one commenter wrote.
Perhaps that's true, but it's also true a lot of folks out there get an awful lot wrong, too: from "brakes by Bluetooth" to rolling on nothing but rims and other "Roadcheck fails."
[Related: Trucking inspection fails: 2024's 'worst of the wost']
New Entrant audits. As previously reported FMCSA's New Entrant safety audit program falls short of timely review of all new motor carriers. In 2024, FMCSA data showed roughly 150,000 new carrier registrations yet conducted just more than 50,000 New Entrant audits. It's long been an area of concern for readers, given the shenanigans bad actors get up to in freight markets after taking advantage of lax checks in FMCSA's registration system.
Commenters didn't say much about this area, yet 15% flagged it as a primary concern, nonetheless.
DataQs reform. Just 12% flagged the FMCSA's DataQs system, used for challenging erroneous violations and/or crashes by motor carriers, but those who did were quite passionate about it.
"The DataQs process is BS," noted one commenter. "It goes back to the agency who wrote the violation instead of going for an independent review. We end up appealing it two or three times before any kind of justice is done. Police policing themselves never works."
[Related: How to mount an effective DataQs challenge]
The commenter went on to lament "no due process" in the DataQs system, saying "something very questionable turns into [Compliance, Safety, Accountability] points and there's no way to have your day in court. It's a bad program and cost the taxpayers way too much for something that's not at all effective."
Not reflected in the chart up top are a bevy of other areas of concern flagged by poll respondents. They urged, among other actions, swift moves toward increased broker transparency, an inquiry into broker margins, close attention to shipper/receiver detention of truckers at the docks, and the repeal of the federal excise tax on truck purchases, first imposed in 1917.
"Please eliminate the 12% FET on new equipment!" wrote one commenter. "That's a tax enacted to help pay for World War I. I'm fairly confident that war has been paid for already!"
Thanks to all who participated! Keep tuned for results from ongoing reporting around all of these issues.
