Watch: Truck drivers circle I-465 at 45 miles per hour as part of a slow-roll protest.
Here's why the drivers were protesting: https://t.co/qyU1IJOva6 pic.twitter.com/IAfkKuqc19
— IndyStar (@indystar) February 21, 2019
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A convoy of trucks, many of them bobtail and part of an organized protest effort, took two laps around Indiana’s I-465 loop on Thursday, with the Indiana State Police estimating that about 75-100 trucks participated, though some have pegged the estimate as high as several hundred, including trucks operating on the I-465 loop that joined the protest.
The event, organized by the Truckers Stand as One group and largely promoted on the Facebook page Black Smoke Matters, was meant to garner publicity for a larger protest organized for April 12, the day the Truckers Stand as One group is calling for a nationwide truckers strike. Overdrive explored the planned protest efforts in depth in January, including interviews with organizers and a few dissenters.
Sgt. Matt Ames of the Indiana State Police said Thursday’s effort was “a peaceful protest,” and that there were “no incidents to report.”
The drivers took two laps around the roughly 50-mile loop, operating at about 45 mph, says Daniel Davidson, one of the organizers of the “slow roll” protest and owner of the small fleet Davidson Trucking out of Bradner, Ohio.
He estimated “around a couple hundred” participants in the convoy, counting trucks that joined along the way who were operating on the loop already. He also said the group stayed focused on the slow roll and that there were no incidents.
He spoke with Overdrive while the protest was ongoing, and he said the group planned to meet back at a TA truckstop off of I-70 in Clayton at the conclusion of the event. Many participants met there in the morning, he said, where “a lot of media” was present. He anticipated media coverage after the protest, too.
Participants and local news outlets posted photos and videos of the event on Facebook and Twitter, some of which can be seen below:
Bunch of truck drivers starting to gather here at the TA Travel Center in Clayton, IN. Slow roll on I-465 scheduled to start at 11. @WTHRcom https://t.co/lMdFV4a7tk pic.twitter.com/MYPeSiLrVE
— Alyssa Raymond (@AlyssaRaymond) February 21, 2019
SLOW ROLL PROTEST PICS (thread): Here’s what the truck driver’s protest looked like when it passed me on I-465 WB near U.S. 31. Click the link for more info on this story:
https://t.co/zXkFvxvZYv pic.twitter.com/2Y0n6JdSoG— Kevin Ratermann (@Kevin_Ratermann) February 21, 2019
Several dozen trucks just passed Mann road as part of slow-roll protest on 465 #wthr pic.twitter.com/qusoM2Sfxr
— Mary Milz (@MaryWTHR) February 21, 2019
@tonykatz @WIBCTraffic #SlowRoll pic.twitter.com/jFgY5Uwh2e
— Garret (@error217) February 21, 2019
Truckers beyond the halfway mark on first lap around I-465. Part of slow-roll protest of new regulations #wthr pic.twitter.com/YDAwf2tcLx
— Mary Milz (@MaryWTHR) February 21, 2019
State Police say truckers slow-roll protest on I-465 has had a minimal impact on traffic so far #wthr pic.twitter.com/Zb9tmqIqhi
— Mary Milz (@MaryWTHR) February 21, 2019
