Owner-operator Scott Jordan, with a fleet of 3 operating trucks based in Peculiar, Mo., was the winner of the 2017 Harley-Davidson Roadster 1200 given away today at the KeepTruckin booth at the Great American Trucking Show. Jordan, who’s been using KeepTruckin’s logbook app, popular with owner-operators, was one of many who stopped by the company booth to have their show badge scanned to be entered in for a chance to win.
Jordan’s not a user of the KeepTruckin ELD upgrade to the app, built to ensure compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device mandate. Set to take effect Dec. 18 this year, the ELD mandate requires e-logs to be synchronized with the engine’s electronic control module to automatically log drive time.
Jordan, active in the Operation Black and Blue effort against the mandate, sees in the ELD rule the federal government taking too strong a hand on owner-operator businesses at the behest of large carriers. “It’s sad because the technology is good,” Jordan says. “But when you force something on somebody,” it sits the wrong way, particularly when that involves GPS tracking. Jordan believes the mandate constitutes an invasion of privacy, an argument that was rejected by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. A further appeal was denied by the Supreme Court earlier this year in the case, brought by individual owner-operators and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
Nonetheless, he’s proud to call the Harley his, potential tax implications notwithstanding.