Posted on 12/02/2022 11:58:41 AM PST by llevrok
The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would require all commercial trucks used for interstate commerce to install tracking devices that would transmit location data and other personal information to police whenever law enforcement requests it.
Roger King, owner of Cowboy State Trucking in Kemmerer, said it’s hard enough to find drivers, and putting federal tracking devices on trucks would be one more reason for people to find other jobs.
“Nobody likes Big Brother looking at your every move,” King said in reference to the government surveillance figure in the George Orwell novel “1984.”
King said trucking companies have a financial interest to operate safely and follow the law, so he doesn’t see a need for the proposed law.
According to the Federal Register, the growth of the commercial vehicle industry outpaces law enforcement resources, so the tracking devices would allow law enforcement to “to make timely and informed decisions to support their mission-critical operations.”
The trucking industry is highly regulated, however, and drivers and the companies they work for already have to provide a wealth of information to regulators. This includes roadside inspections at ports of entry, and drug testing and thorough background checks of drivers.
Is It Constitutional?
The Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant before entering a private space to gather information, and that warrant has to be based on probable cause.
Since the law would require private companies and drivers to supply private information whether or not they’re breaking the law, some question whether it would pass constitutional muster.
In its explanation for the proposed law, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that the devices will allow law enforcement to identify high-risk drivers.
Police now spend some time doing unnecessary roadside inspections, and the devices would reduce the time they spend on that by automatically letting police know if laws are being violated.
The register does note that there are grant programs to help companies install the devices on their fleets, if they’re forced to do so.
Times Change
Dan Messier, a trucker with a HAZMAT rating who hauls mainly within the state of Wyoming, said that his truck will notify the company he drives for if he brakes hard to avoid an elk crossing the road.
In one case, footage from his truck cams was used in a safety video. He’s been driving since 1986, when there was no GPS.
Over the years, the surveillance of drivers has become so commonplace that most of them are used to it being part of the job, Messier said, adding that he doesn’t think the proposed law matters that much.
“When we started this barn dance, we weren’t so into it, but things have changed,” Messier said.
When there’s a crash or infraction, drivers have to fill out an incident report, and the company will provide information to law enforcement when required.
Since Messier enters security sensitive facilities, he has a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). It’s a lot like the TSA pre-check applications that frequent flyers can pay for to get through airport security faster.
Getting a card requires fingerprinting, physicals and background checks. A tracking device transmitting information to law enforcement wouldn’t be any more invasive, Messier said.
Violation Of Rights
Not all truckers are comfortable with government tracking devices.
Glenn MacKenzie, a trucker from Milford, Delaware, said the minute a tracker is put in his truck is the minute he quits.
“Ain’t happening to me,” MacKenzie said while fueling up at the Sinclair Truck Stop off of Interstate 25 in Cheyenne. “Let ’em try it. Only one of us will be standing if they try to attach one. And I promise it will be me.”
Norris Uttridge, a driver from the El Paso area said it’s an invasion of personal rights and if people don’t stand up and say no, “it’ll just get worse.”
“This isn’t about China. It’s much closer than that,” Uttridge told Cowboy State Daily. “Look at what’s happening in Canada. We have two options right now: on your feet or on your knees. I won’t comply.”
Kaycee Sargent, an owner/operator, said he provides all the data on his driving to the companies he drives for. If all the data on his truck were to be transmitted to law enforcement on demand, it would be a violation of his constitutional rights.
“I don’t see why they need more information than they already have,” Sargent said.
That’s just how the NWO rolls. 😐
This does sound like some plan, right up the alley of Pete B. He seems to see himself as some kind of enforcer, IMO.
Pete Buttplug calls the tracking device a “fag tag” for short.
When you let the camel get his nose under tent, you can expect him to waltz right in and shit all over the place.
Privacy is becoming just another memory from the old Great America Days. This crap reminds me of that old Ray Stevens song, “Santa Claus Is Watchin’ You”.
When you have the courts in your pocket, yes, they do think they can - and will - do anything they want
For my job I frequently pull a trailer. Because it’s considered a commercial vehicle I’ve always had to log my trips. A recent proctological exam by a DOT cop hd him convince me that I was running too much for paper logs and needed an Electronic Logging Device.
What a joke that thing is. Every single day, even days off I need to log in and set my status. I can’t go anywhere without big brother telling me what I do wrong. I’m also the administrator of the device so every time I hit the brakes hard, I get an email advising me to coach my driver (me) about hard breaking.
Whenever I’m not pulling the trailer is my own time, but I still have to account for it.
One of my kids is a full time trucker. If I had to put up with that government nonsense all the time I’d quit.
These 8th grade dropout Nazi dictators sitting behind thie desks need to find meaningful employment somewhere else and shut up.
Let’s put a tracking device on THEM.
Our communist masters know that the pathetically servile and indolent Aamerican people will just continue to roll over and spread their collective cheeks...
“Nobody likes Big Brother looking at your every move,”
They already do with the eLog system that was implemented.
We haul bulk Ag. We are required by the terminal we pick up at to log in to load and log off after unloading. They also want us to allow them to track us. Sorry, nope. Ain’t happening.
The Chinese total-surveillance-state is the new model.
The Chinese Communist Party took over the United States of America in a vote fraud coup, thanks, in large part, to RINO Republicans.
Never forget.
I thought, probably mistakenly, that most big rig truckers used Qualcomm or the like which inherently is a tracking/locator device or is that just big logistics firms like Weiner, JB Hunt, etc?
What do they do with all that data? Is it simply yet another scam to milk money out of the productive?
We all have a tracking device in our pocket now.
All they need is your number, and the GED guy sipping coffee at the State Police house knows zactly what yer doing.
All the Karens will vote to let them do it, and the self appointed Overclass will never let go.
It’s called Communism. The State is everything.
Hey, Guido check with your pal as to when that load of cell phones is coming through Wolf Creek pass...
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