The ELD or Me Facebook group and its still-under-construction TruckerNation.org website and grassroots organization will host former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, recently pardoned after being convicted of criminal contempt of court by a federal judge, at an event in Nashville, Tenn., March 31. Arpaio, now 85 and an Arizona Senate candidate, will speak at the event. VIP ticketholders, organizers say, will get an opportunity to voice industry concerns to him during the one-day event, set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theatre.
Details about the event were posted Friday, March 9, by ELD or Me’s Andrea Marks at this link.According to ELD or Me cofounder, trucker and singer-songwriter Tony Justice, the event is intended as part and parcel of the group’s ongoing efforts to get the attention of President Donald Trump on issues surrounding the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device mandate. ELD or Me was founded specifically with the intention of uniting mandate opponents against the rule.
“We’re hoping that by presenting this,” Justice says, anti-mandate partisans may ultimately “get a chance to sit down and talk with [Trump] and tell him our side of the story.” While there’s “no guarantee that will happen,” he adds, he believes the event is a step in the right direction. “It’s not the president, but [Arapaio] is one of his friends.”
Tickets to the event, cosponsored by the DPF Regeneration emissions-equipment-service company and Bullsnot! tire-mounting lubricant, will be available at the ELD or Me/Trucker Nation booth at the Mid-America Trucking Show and elsewhere, Justice adds, at $60 for VIP level, $40 general admission.
