Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) is introducing a bill to prevent foreign manipulation of commercial trucks' electronic logging devices (ELDs) for hours-of-service tracking.
The Context
Electronic logging devices (ELDs) are linked to commercial trucks' engines to accurately count driving time so that drivers' hours of service (HOS) can be paid accordingly.
However, groups known as "chameleon carriers" are foreign-owned and operated, often from Eastern Europe, India, and Central Asia. These groups take advantage of lax laws governing the establishment of trucking companies, then illegally modify ELDs to log fewer hours, underpaying and overworking their drivers, who end up driving while fatigued, thereby exacerbating dangerous highway conditions.
What Steube's Bill Does
As a result, Rep. Steube's Guarding Hours-of-Service Oversight and Stopping Tampering by Remote Unofficial Carrier Keeper (GHOSTRUCK) Act prohibits foreign-based truck company personnel from altering ELD records by ensuring that the records are modified by personnel physically based in North America, while preserving the requirement of driver approval for such edits.
"Foreign dispatchers should not be able to manipulate trucking safety records from halfway around the world and put American lives at risk," said Rep. Steube in a press release. "Reports have exposed how overseas actors are falsifying driver logs, overworking truckers beyond safe limits, and avoiding accountability when tragedies occur. The GHOSTRUCK Act closes this loophole and helps keep our roads safe."
Representative Dave Taylor (R-OH), the bill's cosponsor, commented, "Beyond powering our nation's supply chain and economy, our nation's truck drivers share the road with American families, and there's nothing more important than ensuring everyone reaches their destinations safely."
"I am proud to join Rep. Steube in introducing the GHOSTRUCK Act to hold bad actors accountable for tampering with electronic logging devices, enhance accountability on the road, and ultimately make American roads safe again," Rep. Taylor added.
Other Trucking Bills
In September, Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) introduced the Weigh Station Enforcement to Intercept and Guard Highways (WEIGH) Act, which requires all weigh stations along interstate highways to review commercial drivers' licenses for irregularities and to ensure they are proficient in English.
