Since President Donald Trump and tech titan Elon Musk kicked off the Department of Government Efficiency effort to streamline government and crack down on "waste, fraud and abuse," we asked readers for their own ideas and heard from nearly a dozen of you answering these questions:
What ideas would you submit to DOGE's DOT account or any other agency? Do you have insights into unsafe, abusive, fraudulent or wasteful practices within the government or industry?
A lot what you earmarked were more industry than government initiatives, with some pointing to ways government might do more to bolster vital functions, perhaps streamlining or cutting others to make it work.
The areas are all included in the survey question below -- weigh in on your top three to add your perspective on these, or name another area of chief concern. Commentary from individual readers follows.
We heard from nearly a dozen Overdrive readers on the issues earmarked above.
New Entrant audits. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations subject newly registered carriers to a New Entrant safety audit, required to occur within 12 months of beginning operations. But in practice the agency falls short. In 2024, FMCSA data showed roughly 150,000 new carrier registrations. How many New Entrant Audits did FMCSA conduct? Just more than 50,000, with the vast majority of that number conducted "offsite," as is customary, with no visit to the carrier's place of business.
An FMCSA report, using 2022 numbers, the latest publicly available numbers, found a bit more than 5% of active carriers have a safety rating, furthermore (New Entrant audits don't result in safety ratings). The DOT itself cautions against reading too much into rating data, yet that's exactly what the "carrier vetting" industry does. Overdrive readers have come forward with dozens of horror stories about companies assessing their safety and legitimacy based on algorithmic approaches. A few readers wrote in saying DOGE should look into companies like Carrier411, but as a private business it's outside the realm of DOGE's mission.
Yet could FMCSA take the guesswork out of "carrier vetting" if it actually audited all carriers?
[Related: FMCSA's carrier-safety-rating revamp -- time to weigh options]
DataQs. Readers were keen on finding a better solution for disputing violations and/or crash data than the current DataQs system, which they felt took too long and provided little certainty.
"Fighting tickets is now almost impossible thanks to the DOT'S DataQs challenge system," wrote owner-operator Adam Mackey. "Instead of having my day on court, I have to submit multiple letters and get denied multiple times until six to eight months later I finally might get my day in court. Lawyers don't understand it, and drivers don't have the time or money to jump through all the hoops."
[Related: How to mount an effective DataQs challenge]
Roadside inspections. Readers overall understand the importance of law enforcement checking in on equipment, but the current system hasn't been working for some.
"DOT loves to pull over trucks from multiple states over because they know they won't fight the tickets," wrote Mackey. "Some states are way worse than others. Us small business owners don't have the privilege of a free pass like most mega carriers."
Trucking industry veterans John and Susan Koglman said DOT inspections at rest areas are cutting into what little truck parking there is, yet another area of interest. Despite billions in federal and state funding for truck parking, the shortage of good spots remains, previously free truck parking is becoming a paid commodity, predatory towing and booting has become a scourge and there's a maniac on the loose stabbing up tires of parked trucks.
"The truck parking has been a disaster for semi drivers, especially at night," wrote Cornell Jones. "It needs to be addressed."
The Koglmans felt "DOT inspections at rest areas keep a tired driver on the road instead of pulling into a rest haven," a reference to the practice in some states of truck enforcement operating out of roadside rest areas. They saw plenty reason for such an inspection if "the officers see a major equipment failure. But a paperwork inspection? No."
ELD/Hours of service rules. Plenty owner-operators have a long history of opposition to the electronic logging device mandate, but enthusiasm for a DOGE look at ELD rules, regs and practices outpaced any other topic.
"ELDs have made things much more dangerous statistically speaking" wrote Mackey. Perhaps he's read Overdrive's 2022 look into the safety impact of ELDs four years into the mandate, or he's seen a decline in safety with his own eyes. "All the trucks used to be governed at 62 to 65 mph. Now, they're governed at 75 mph because of the ELD mandate costing everybody time and money," he added.
"Although I am not a fan of e-logs, they serve a purpose," wrote small fleet owner Cash Rainer, whose company hauls loads in tankers, cattle trailers, and more. "It’s not about safety at all." Livestock haulers were hours- and ELD-exempt, he pointed out, during a lot of the COVID pandemic, as were plenty other operations, too. "How do you address a safety concern by removing all safety regulations during a pandemic? Same goes for other situations such as flood, fire, hurricane etc. It’s not about safety, it’s about control!"
[Related: FMCSA expands HOS waivers, regional emergency]
A real effort to make a driver's day safer and more sustainable, according to Rainer, would look at what truckers go through at the dock: "Shippers and receivers are not held to any standard for tying up a driver and truck during a shipment, but the trucking company is held to a standard they have zero control of."
One trucker who did not want to be named pointed to the FBI warning about the danger of hacking telematics, cybersecurity concerns around ELDs, and a college student hacking an ELD as a class project.
Others just wanted a simple adjustment to make life easier. "We should be able to pause the 14-hour clock," wrote owner-op Doug Jones, beyond just what's available via changes to the split-sleeper rules that came down in 2020.
[Related: Signiicant hours of service change: FMCSA's 2020 split-sleeper provision changes, explained]
Guest-worker visas/permanent status for foreign/immigrant drivers. Some readers felt there'd been a marked increase in foreign or otherwise non-English-speaking commercial drivers on U.S roadways -- some alleged schemes to underpay such workers, likewise a lackluster commitment to safety. "The amount of foreigners that had been issued work visas to operate commercial vehicles has gotten out of control, which in turn has forced rates down and caused a lot of unsafe drivers," said Matthew Long, an owner-operator for 26 years.
[Related: Do drivers need to learn English? Not really]
"The one thing that has stood out to me, especially in this time of year we call winter, is the complete reversal of what we were hoping for with the driver training standards," wrote Brian J. Hunt, small fleet owner, referencing the Entry Level Driver Training regulations and yet another central concern earmarked by readers. "We wanted drivers that were capable of driving and had experience driving in all kinds of weather and road conditions. Instead, what we got was FMCSA helping their corporate donors and lobbyists to make more money by requiring all new drivers pay to go to one of their 'approved schools.'"
Hunt sees more of the same as before the ELDT regulations their training provider registry came into full effect in 2022. "We're still getting the same low quality drivers while their corporate buddies are raking in the cash with cheap-labor seat heaters at the expense of everyone else on the road."
The idea that "CDL mills" are turning out unskilled, dangerous drivers in the U.S. was very much a part of some readers' commentary. With millions and millions pumped into CDL training, often accompanied by some mention of the debunked "driver shortage," truckers still say it's getting less safe out there. There's no shortage, either, of CDL schools getting busted cheating.
Why not another approach? one reader asked, harking back to old-school ways prior to the ELDT regulations requiring pre-skills test schooling: "On the subject of truck-driving schools, if a person could get a learning permit and have an opportunity to learn to drive safely," taught by "an older driver who has a stellar driving record, then go take the test instead of having to pay a 'school' several thousand dollars, that should be an option!"
Weigh in via the comments and pick your top three, or name another, via the survey question module above.
